The Door Slammed Shut and the Lights Went Out
by ArcticRascal
Summary: A depressed Pearl moves to a nice, small house by the beach to try to recover from the death of Rose. However, things don't go quite to plan as she's stuck living in a supposedly 'haunted' house that has many secrets hidden in the basement. (Originally posted on Archive of Our Own)
1. Chapter 1 - A New Beginning

Chapter 1- A New Beginning

The city was loud. The cars would never stop obnoxiously yelling at each other and everything else just added to the arguments between the vehicles… That is if inanimate objects _could_ argue.  
It was easy for the young ballet dancer, Pearl, to completely blank out the world. If her past-self was to see her now, she would most definitely ask how one of the most talented and smartest could have fallen as easily as her rivals in facing her in fencing tournaments did.

Pearl was fed up with the world. She wasn't suicidal in any way, she just felt like she deserved a break. It was nearly two years since Rose died and it was still hurting. The many friends around her had provided support… But it wasn't the same without her, if anything it was getting worse.

"You need to move," Garnet bluntly suggested with a gentle voice, "The longer you stay here… It's affecting you…"

"Where do I go then?" Pearl questioned, she stood rigidly, her arms wrapped protectively around herself, "I can't just move…"

Garnet had begun her explanation, but Pearl just stopped listening. It wasn't exactly her fault, she just noticed something in the corner of her eye. Near Rose's preferred seat and window. So she turned slightly away from her concerned friend.  
She could see Rose standing there. her pink dyed hair, naturally curly and large, was flowing in the wind. Despite the windows being firmly shut. Rose turned and smiled back at Pearl, it would have made her heart flutter… If it wasn't so sad.

"Pearl? Pearl!" Garnet snapped her out the trance and just as quickly as Rose appeared, she vanished. Pearl looked back to her friend, neither of them were irritated or angry. They both understood the sorrow that hung in the air, that would cling on to those devoid of hope. Garnet softly sighed, she could understand Pearl's pain after all, and yet she didn't at the same time. Pearl and Rose knew each other nearly their entire lives, Garnet knew how Pearl felt about Rose and with her gone… what she did… It made the sadness unbearable.

"Opal is renting a small house beside the beach, she's giving you a discount…"

"Do you know how far away that is?" Pearl groaned, "It's in a port town isn't it?"

"It's for the best…"

Pearl hummed slightly,

"what about you and Amethyst?" Pearl asked curiously,

"we're gonna still stay here," Garnet chuckled, "Greg needs some help with Steven after all."  
Pearl sighed, she was about to begin one of her inner turmoils again… _'why did she choose you?' 'she knew she wouldn't live, did she want to leave a son without his mother?'_ she pinched herself at that, bad topic, don't question it.

"This will be temporary Pearl," Garnet placed a hand onto Pearl's shoulder, "as soon as Greg has his car wash set up in Beach city we will join you there."

"huh, Beach city?" Pearl smiled breathlessly, "It's not even big enough to be called a city, 'town' and I would understand."

"It's a popular holiday resort."

Pearl sighed again at Garnets intentional, yet invisible, pout, "I'll go start packing-"

"Packing?" A voice entered the room and the door slammed shut. Amethyst casually strolled in, finishing, or rather skipping, college. "You barely have anything!"

"I'm practical, I don't collect junk with no use…" The pale dancer grumbled,

"I heard that!" Amethyst called out as she walked by them towards her room, then shutting it behind her.

"It's her final year right?" Pearl turned back to Garnet, she was met with a nod, "At least she knows what she wants to do…"

"You'll figure it out," Garnet smiled again, "let's get ready, you're moving after all."

—

Pearl was fed up with the world. Perhaps she wasn't suicidal, but anyone would say she was utterly, hopelessly, lost and depressed. The beach was a familiar place to Pearl, it wasn't a place that she went with Rose, but she did have some vague memories here.  
The fencer wasn't particularly happy with the place, yet she wasn't unhappy, she was just confused. The port town was nothing like the city, it wasn't radiating with the life that gave her a headache, instead it was more like a pleasant buzzing.  
But first concern, sand. Sand!  
Pearl grumbled as she walked passed several houses, sand was already sticking to her ankles and her luggage, she isn't even that close to the sea.

"Hey Pearl!" she heard someone call her name, Pearl turned to find a tall blonde running up towards her, the slightly tanned arms wrapped around her, going her a warm hug that felt like four arms instead of two, she knew exactly who it was.

"I know it's been hard for you," Opal pulled back and began walking with Pearl to the house, as her guide for the evening Opal felt it was her duty. She would repeat herself often, Pearl would just kindly nod her head in response.

"I'm rambling again," Opal sighed,

"It's fine," Pearl replied, she never wanted to sound so sad though.

"The amount of times I had to repeat myself to my students has affected me a little too much." Opal chuckled.

Pearl mostly ignored Opal's silence and later ramblings. She was more taken aback by the tranquility of the city, the people looked unique and strangely recognisable. The sea was beautiful as she slowly approached the small house at the edge of the city, startlingly close to a cliff with a light house perched at the top.

The house itself was rather pleasant; a small porch, a few windows overlooking the sea that was nearly at her door and the town that seemed unsettlingly far away.  
"I have only some items left here, I'll pick them up once I come back from my trip," Opal stated as she opened the door and entered.

"Your trip?" Pearl asked as she wrestled with her things. Opal soon came out again and helped Pearl carry in her bags. It was rather easy as Pearl packed just as much as someone would when going onto a plane, if not less.

"Yes, I'm going to visit some temples… somewhere… with some colleagues and students."  
The fencer nodded absently as she looked round the house.

Pearl seen a blank room with basic furnishings, the only things that stood out was a few trophies on the shelf, a quiver belonging to a bow and arrow as well as a few mats used for yoga in the corner. She analysed the house, noting that the living room connected everything together, a small staircase led to a small walled off bedroom on the left of the entryway. There wasn't a door on top of the stairs, but rather curtains that closed the area to prying eyes. The tiny area under the bedroom was a bathroom, Pearl was surprised at how comfortable the bathroom was, it seemed large with a counter and bath with shower. The kitchen was rather basic, a counter divided the living room from it and had four seats.  
The only thing odd about the basic house was the blank empty wall in the back with an elevated panel-like floor board.

"weird right?" Opal commented, noticing Pearl's strange looks and staring, "once, I went down into that basement…" she paused, "I'm definitely, undeniably certain that it's haunted."

"what?" Pearl almost laughed, "you can't be serious."

"Deadly," Opal looked darkly at the panel, "I suggest getting something heavy to hold it down, it opens up at night… and it has to be heavy!"  
Pearl wanted to question Opal more, but she had already walked away, a subtle indication she didn't want to talk about the subject.

"Apart from that, the plumbing sometimes acts up and the electricity can go out sometimes too," Opal listed as she read a small notepad she used for reminders,

"wait, plumbing? electricity? it's so modern just- where did you even get this house?" Pearl groaned,

"This house?" Opal paused, trying to remember, "Oh! It was passed down to me, a relative of mine said she bought it from some freaky people."

"F-freaky?" Pearl hesitated, clearly unsure.

"They weren't bad, they just had colourful personalities," Opal smiled warmly, "I think."

"Right…" Pearl muttered, not convinced.

 _'Just what am I in for now?'_


	2. Chapter 2 - Something Strange

Chapter 2 - Something Strange

"See you later Pearl!" Opal called back as she ran off.

Pearl waved goodbye, she wasn't fond of calling or shouting goodbye to people anymore, not since… Pearl bit her lip as she watched the taller girl run up the street, she looked as if she was running for her life and never looked back. But Pearl knew that was just her imagination, Opal was a rather athletic person and she had obviously forgotten something.

Pearl turned back into the house and closed the door behind her. The silence was overwhelming, she thought that it was strange that she could not hear the sea that well, despite being right next to it. At least she had a nice view. The dancer glanced once more around the room, Opal had helped her pack a few things into shelves or cabinets, as well as place some mementos around the house.

Opal was a good friend, forgetful and rather blunt, but she was so concerned for Pearl during her most difficult times. Pearl couldn't help but smile when Opal offered to stay the night despite her initial panic at forgetting about 'something important'. Pearl glanced at the clock, '8:30' not even close to when Pearl usually goes to bed. It was at a time like this that something happened that she dreaded…

She was bored.

Pearl hated being bored, because when she is, she thinks about **'her'**. Not wanting to sink further into her depression, Pearl took a flashlight and approached the panel.

"haunted…" Pearl chuckled, she was going to open the hatch at some point, why not now? as she was about to pry open the panel when she heard a sound from the bathroom. It sounded like a scream or a high-pitched whistle, it would then slowly diminuendo into a low sound as loud as a fog-horn. The house seemed to rattle violently, she could hear the creaking of wood and cracking of glass. When it finally stopped she glanced round to find nothing unusual with the house. Slightly scared but incredibly curious. Pearl pried off her hands from her ears and approached the bathroom, opening the door.

There was nothing there, it was empty. Only the light sound of dripping water was heard. Pearl tried flicking the light switch but found there to be no power what-so-ever and Pearl gasped at how cold it was, like ice-cold water in the sea. When she stumbled out the bathroom, Pearl gasped at the sudden darkness of the mentioned power outage by Opal. Not thinking too much about it, she navigated around with her only light source in her hands.

As she approached the basement entrance again with some hopes of finding a power-box, the lights came on and Pearl could see again. She shuddered and looked at the clock with some strange compulsion. '10:00'. Pearl froze, "what? how?" she looked outside to confirm her suspicions, the sun had already set and night has fallen. Pearl was utterly confused only a few minutes went by surely, but it's not like she never suffered this before.

After all, when she thought about **'her'** she could go into a trance-like state, staring at nothing and would snap out hours later. Rationalising her thoughts, Pearl decided she had too much excitement for one day and concluded that she needed rest. She turned off the lights and went up the stairs, closing the curtain behind her. Pearl watched the moon and sea from her window, it was calming and despite the earlier drama she felt like she could relax and fall asleep anytime.

She heard a buzzing and reached to check her phone. Unlocking it she discovered several messages from the others and began reading them. She started with the oldest from Garnet, who was always to the point with her texts, and began reading the more important messages.

"Hope you're okay-"

How very generic, Pearl had lost count the amount of times people had sent her such messages and promptly skipped to something a little more recent.

"We're fine, Amethyst is still being herself, she's worried about you."

Pearl scoffed at that, Amethyst liked to act like she doesn't care…

"Moving is exhausting, we are here to help."

 _'like usual'_ Pearl sighs and skips ahead slightly,

"We won't make it tomorrow, will make it for Saturday."

Pearl sighed, she quickly checked the calendar and seen that today is Wednesday, or was Wednesday… She focuses back on her messages and decides to read through some other contacts she had, she flinched when she seen Rose's name. Despite all these years, she could never let go of Rose. Pearl hovered over the delete button, but no matter how much deep breathing or logical thinking she done, Pearl just moved on… Leaving 'her' there.

Slender fingers found their way to Amethysts texts, she groaned as she began reading.

"Yo P! hope ur not homesick already!"

'That arrogant little!-' Pearl huffed as she moved on, she would forgive her for now.

"Ur rooms trashed now, room for me!" Pearl frowned even more, and huffed in irritation, skipping more texts of mockery from Amethyst. Then she skipped a few more... Found a message that was meant for someone else... Then she skipped a few more again... 'Seriously?' Pearl thought as she continued scrolling through the never ending supply of texts. The dancer yawned and looked at the time, she had somehow managed to spend two hours sorting her collection of messages and fighting against every compulsion in deleting Amethyst as a contact.

She placed her phone down on the bedside table and stood to get dressed. As she turned her back, she heard her phone buzzing and soon a faint, melodic tune followed. 'Who could be calling me so late in the night?' Pearl wondered as she reached for her phone, as soon as she touched the screen the buzzing stopped. She never even got a notification that someone called her. Pearl brushed it off and put the phone back down, just as her fingers left the edges of the device it began ringing again.

Hoping to answer this time she lunged at the phone, yet once again it had stopped. Pearl decided to play it smart this time and turned the screen on facing up, she was going to catch them this time… As she placed down the phone and took a few steps back, she eyed the phone. Once again the phone lit up and began to ring, Pearl looked at the screen before answering and found the one and only Amethyst. She quickly answered the phone and brought it to her ear.

"Very funny Amethyst…" Pearl said lowly, This had to be some sort of prank by the younger girl, she never knew how she timed it so well, but she was far to stressed and irritated to consider any other explanation.

"What? what did I do now?!" She could hear her on the other end,

"You called me twice! and then disconnected as soon as I touched the phone!" Pearl replied angrily.

"Look, I never called you!" Amethyst snapped back, Pearl huffed in distain, "I wanted to call and see if you where okay!"

"And calling at midnight was an acceptable time?" Pearl began to walk back and forth in her room.

"I know you never sleep Pearl!" Amethyst answered to that, her voice gradually getting louder and she began to huff, "look, you can just go ahead and blame your problems on everyone like you always do! Sorry for caring! See ya!"

She hung up.

Still highly irritated, Pearl dropped her phone onto her bed and finally got dressed. As she lay down, the phone went off again, quick fingers answered and brought the phone back to her ear.

"Amethyst I don't want to talk right now!" Pearl was met with wheezing and coughing, "T-this isn't funny…" Pearl went slightly pale, it doesn't sound like it was faked.

"H-help…" The voice said on the other end of the phone before it was met with more coughing and then finally disconnected. If Pearl wasn't freaked out before, she definitely was now. Whoever was on the other end of the phone, it wasn't Amethyst that's for sure. But what if it was just some prank? she did get prank calls like most other people…

This couldn't have been real.

Pearl checked her phone to find at least the number of whoever called her, she was disappointed when nothing came up. With new found determination, Pearl pulled up her Laptop and connected her phone to it. She knew that what she was doing wasn't completely legal as she sieved through recent contacts and through some careful alterations to the coding, she quickly found the number of the caller in distress… She would have to thank Garnet that she even allowed Pearl to have such a program on her laptop and making sure she wasn't caught tracking people down for the police force.

Pearl took note of the number and safely began restoring the coding, it was simple and quick. As Pearl held her phone once again, she tapped the number in and held her breath for a reply. She was once again disappointed when they never answered. Pearl huffed and placed her laptop beside her on the floor and put her phone back onto the bedside table.

The room was plunged into darkness once the light was turned off, although Pearl was quite surprised that her room was relatively quite bright in comparison to her room in the city. The moonlight was quite relaxing. Pearl was lying on her bed for what felt like hours. It was as if she was trapped in a state of limbo. She heard the faint breeze outside, but not the sea. She felt the moisture in the room, but not the light covers over her. She smelled the sea, but not the perfume she wore. Suddenly a chime was heard and Pearl forgot everything.

Water, water all around her. She was drowning. Opening her eyes, she seen machines, so many machines, all attached to her. She can't feel anything below her stomach. Red, water dotted with red. It tastes of metal and a bitter substance. Pain, everywhere, she can't move.

She bolted awake, the fabric clung to her wet skin. It was a nightmare, a terrible nightmare.


	3. Chapter 3 - Acquaintances

Chapter 3 - Acquaintances

Pearl grumbled as she got out of bed, grabbing a towel and some clothes she entered the bathroom. Nothing was out of place.  
'Of course everything's the same,' She mentally scolded herself and entered the shower.  
The dancer couldn't help but think about the nightmare and what had happened last night. She rubbed her arms and back, still rigid and tense from the experience. Pearl sighed and closed her eyes, trying to decipher the messages. She grumbled once again as she could not think anymore, her thoughts where in pieces and it felt like a wall was in her mind. Concentrating, Pearl could remember little details and movements before suddenly plunging into water and feeling pain.  
"It's so painful" Pearl opened her eyes and placed a hand on her abdomen that was aching dully, as if she was slowly being torn apart. Her hand felt warmer as a hot liquid trailed down her fingers, finally looking down she paled as her hand was painted red. Just below her trembling palm, a large, jagged, bleeding wound.  
Blood was flowing, the wound seemed to grow and for a moment a ridiculous idea of being cut open sprang into the fencers mind. Is she going to die? Would she be torn apart by an invisible force? Will she be alive long enough to see her lower half detached and her insides spilled out? In her panic trying to close and pressure the wound, Pearl slips and fell back. Bashing her head against the wall. She hissed as she felt more injuries appear from thin air.

Blood was everywhere.

 **It was leaking from the walls.**

The water was dyed a permanent red, it poured out from the tiny cracks in the bathroom tiles and stained the white walls. The mirror she had was rattling and had cracked as if some abomination had slammed into it. Pearl felt a warm gust of air hit her, it was as if there was an invisible fire in the room that was waiting to burn her as soon as she stepped out the shower.

Pearl shut her eyes tightly and curled up into a ball, her arms wrapped protectively around herself, she just kept breathing and she felt a sudden coolness wash over her. She slowly opened her eyes and looked round. As suddenly as the blood appeared it disappeared. The water was clear like usual and the room was neat and clean. The 'smashed' mirror never had a chip on it and all she could hear was the shower.

She hissed in pain and looked down to her ribs, Pearl frowned once she seen scratch marks on both sides.  
She concluded that in her panicked state she had harmed herself subconsciously, an attempt to wake herself up and she stood up carefully on shaking legs.  
'There must be something seriously wrong with me…'

Pearl shivered and finished her morning shower. Patting herself dry, she inspected her injuries.  
They where faint, not even as bad as a scratch from a cat, she almost smiled in relief.  
Pulling her shirt over her head and slipping on some jeans, Pearl left the bathroom and decided to do some minor chores around the house.  
Before doing so, the dancer turned on her phone once more, she sighed as she confirmed that the entire panic with the phone number did in fact happen.

'I hope it was a prank…' Pearl thought as she began making a list of things she had to do for the day. She never needed to make a plan, she just wanted to waste time doing **something,** anything to forget whatever that event was in the shower.

Pearl sighed softly as she picked up a pen, 'Perhaps I'm finally losing it...'

The first thing she needed to do was to organise her belongings, some habits just never go away, but she never had much to do as Opal helped her yesterday. Pearl picked up her laptop from the floor and put it onto the small desk adjacent to her bed, she also placed a few other things on her desk or in the drawers. Most of her clothes where already put away into their respectful compartments. The couch was also well maintained.  
With that out the way, Pearl moved onto the next thing on her list. Go and buy some food, she wasn't much of an eater herself but Pearl at least wanted there to be something in her kitchen incase of guests, she also wants to buy some tea… She definitely needs some.

After constructing another list, Pearl put on a light coat and sighed as she exited the house. She just didn't understand it, the house was small and by the looks of it, newly-built. Perhaps Opal wasn't joking, she couldn't deny that she felt safer out of the house than inside it. 'But it was only the first day,' Pearl concluded, 'It can't get any worse...' Pearl turned round and instantly wished she hadn't thought that.

She could not see anything. It wasn't an exaggeration either, the fog that rolled in from the sea was definitely thick today. Pearl frowned at how she never noticed the fog outside before 'It's not like I was too distracted trying to forget about an actual nightmare shower from hell or anything.' Pearl glanced at the house, then back to the fog wondering where to go.

'Fog it is'. She decided with a determined huff, 'There is no-way I'm going back in there anytime soon,' she locks the door behind her and continues on her way, trying not to walk into a pole or parked car.  
'Why today of all days was there a zero-visibility fog over Beach city?' Pearl groaned, at least she wasn't the only one wading through the fog, she seen quite a few people walking about.  
There was a man that carried a box of what looked like pizza and another man behind him that was putting up a sign for a fry shop. Pearl sighed as it dawned on her that she was going the complete opposite direction of where she was meant to be going.

"Are you okay?" Pearl heard a young voice to her right, she looked down and found three children looking back at her, two boys and a girl. They definitely were strange kids, one of the boys wore oversized sunglasses, the other had some oversized headphones hanging from his neck, finally the confident girl wore an oversized jacket.

"I'm okay," Pearl gently replied with a faint smile,

"We've never seen you around before!" the girl commented, "Are you visiting?"

"I moved here recently," Pearl awkwardly replied, she nervously clenched her hands and had a vague clueless expression, kids this young were not in her expertise.

"Are you lost?" The girl asked again, Pearl was baffled at how transparent she was that a child managed to notice.

"No…" Pearl replied slyly and that earned a giggle from the kids, "how old are you three?" Pearl asked curiously,

"We're five!" 'Great, five year olds' Pearl sighed,

"Where are your parents?" Pearl asked them, the girl pointed to the man that was entering the pizza place. Pearl recognised him as the man she seen earlier with the boxes of pizzas, how on earth could he do deliveries in this weather she would never know.

"My dad's picking me up soon," the boy in the sunglasses said, "and Sourcream's mom is picking him up soon too." The previously mentioned boy with headphones nodded at this.

"Well, I should really get going…" Pearl gently said as she slowly started to walk away from the children,

"But how do you know where you're going if you're lost?" The girl stopped her,

"I'll… just go back to where I came from?" Pearl replied, earning another giggle from the kids. Quite frankly, after taking a look around, Pearl doesn't even remember where she came from, let alone where she has to go.

"Wow you're funny!" The girl laughed again before stopping as another young voice was heard from the pizza place,

"Jenny! it's time to come home!" Another little girl by the door of the pizza place called out to them,

"Coming!" Jenny, the little girl in a jacket called back, she was about to run to the shop with the boys but paused and turned back to Pearl, "Are you coming?" She asked,

"huh?" Pearl was taken by surprise,

"Come on!" Jenny ran back to her and took Pearl's hand, leading her back to the shop. Pearl never wanted to hurt the girl so she followed behind her saying only a few protests that were met by a giggle.

"I really should get going…" Pearl told Jenny as they entered the store. It was warm and had a neat, cozy interior. The girl and her friends pulled Pearl towards one of the nearby tables, Pearl politely declined sitting down as she still had the full intent of leaving.

"You won't see anything though," The girl replies, 'your friend's wearing sunglasses, in comparison he's as blind as me.' Pearl grumble lightly as they barricaded her inside. She looked back to the children and raised an eyebrow when she was hit with an odd sense of familiarity, then it dawned on her how similar the boy with sunglasses behaved like Garnet and how recklessly confident Jenny behaved like Amethyst. She disregarded the resemblance, but it was nice to know what to expect from them in future.

"Jenny!" Pearl and the girl turned to find what could only be Jenny's father glaring at his daughter, "I told you and your friends not to go outside under any circumstances!"

"But-"

"No 'Buts' young lady!" The man denied her futile attempt. He then turned to Pearl, "I apologise, the weather is making everything difficult."

"oh, well… um… It's fine," Pearl replied a little flustered,

"I haven't seen your face before," an old lady suddenly appeared beside the dancer, startling her slightly, "came here on vacation? terrible weather right now."

"No… I actually moved here," Pearl hesitantly replied,

"Oh! where is it that you stay?" The elderly lady excitedly asked, ignoring the man trying to get her to back down and was saying something about 'customers'. 'Jenny is so devious.' Pearl realised, the little girl wasn't showing her sympathy back there, instead she thought of her as a soon to be customer.

"The small house, all the way in the corner of Beach city," Pearl replied, still unsure at what the woman wanted, but appreciated her for distracting the man asking for Pearl's order. She could see the expressions change slightly when she mentioned the house though.

"Oh that house," the woman continues, "it's a little strange, that house."

"It is?" Pearl gulps,

"No one lived there for some time and it always looked strange. It's as if someone started to work on it but then abandoned it!" The man added, "what's worse is that there are strange lights and sounds too!"

"When did you move in?" The lady asked,

"Yesterday," Pearl replied,

"Well then I guess it couldn't have been you." The man said, but with a wave of his hand and a huff he changed the subject, "I never even introduced myself! I am Kolfi! the proud owner of this establishment!"

"I'm Nanafua" The old lady also introduced herself,

"I'm-"

Pearl was suddenly interrupted by the loud shutting of the door and by the person that walks in,  
"Oh! you must be Pearl!" The young woman with blonde hair stated, Pearl guessed she was a young mother as she currently did not suit those mother clothes and the boy with the large headphones run up to her with a wide grin.

"You know this woman Vidalia?" Kolfi asked,

"Not personally," she replied, and then looked back to Pearl "I'm Amethyst's friend, she told me you were coming here, I'm guessing you're pretty lost right now."

"W-well…" Pearl flusters a little,

Vidalia chuckles at this and picks up Sourcream, "I was heading over to the store, so if you wanna go now's your chance!"


	4. Chapter 4 - Lonely

Chapter 4 - Lonely

The fog was still quite heavy, and it was quite cold, it was difficult to even see her slim hand in front of her face but at least Pearl could see where Vidalia and her son are. She was walking slowly and rather loudly, Pearl couldn't decide whether it was intentional or if it was the usual for her.

"So," The young mother began, "Amethyst told me quite a bit about you."

"Oh?" The dancer just sighed, "what was she complaining about now?"

"Complaining? Ha!" The woman laughed, "She doesn't complain!"

Pearl perked up slightly and looked quizzically at Vidalia, slowly Pearl raised her eyebrow and gave the best dubious look she could. Amethyst definitely hasn't been truthful to this friend. Or maybe they haven't seen each other in so long that they have changed and don't know it.

"You don't believe me huh?" The woman tutted, "look, Amethyst usually keeps to herself about most things and I'm fine with that, all she asked me was to look out for you… Till you get used to this place." Vidalia then paused for a moment to pick Sourcream off the ground, "Oof!" she exaggerated, "You are definitely getting bigger!" this earned a smile from the silent boy,

"Thanks Vidalia," Pearl said as they continued moving again, she said it purely out of politeness, in reality she wasn't that thankful. No offence to Vidalia. She just felt that she didn't need some sort of guide. The stay was temporary if anything and she never wanted to get to close to the bizarre locals.

"No probs," She replied, "But seriously, you need to be thanking Amethyst, I never even knew you where coming here until she rung me up."

"I… See…" Pearl muttered under her breath. If Amethyst thought that this was some sort of apology or favour then Pearl definitely wasn't amused.

It wasn't long until Pearl was close enough to see the front of the shop and walked inside with Vidalia,  
"You should find everything you need here," Vidalia said, "come find me at the here once you're done."  
Pearl broke away from the young mother and began her search through the isles and found everything she needed. After cringing at how badly certain food isles needed to be re-organised, she pondered at how boring everything was in the store. Forgettable people, faces, conversations, the only thing worth remembering was where the exit was as well as the counters. It reminded her of the city, of her friends, of... Pearl sighed sadly, 'her.'  
After she was done getting some basic things, Pearl waited for Vidalia at the exit. Knowing her luck she would get lost in the fog again.  
Pearl waited for around an hour for Vidalia and was met by a few rustlings and an all too familiar voice.  
"Oh, you're here," Vidalia walked up to her, "How long where you waiting for?"

"Um…" Pearl hesitated, "A few minutes?" She opted for a white lie.

Vidalia narrowed her eyes, "I know you where waiting for some time! I can see it in your face!" She then took a glance down at Pearl's one medium sized bag, "You definitely must have been waiting long if you only got that much."

Pearl in turn looked at Vidalia's bags, she had several full bags in her hands, "Did you get what you needed?" She asked carefully, not wanting to seem rude or judgemental.

"Yep! That and more," The young mother proudly proclaimed, "You live in that small house right? let's get you home."

"No it's fine! really," Pearl quickly says with a degree of panic 'I'm not ready to go back there yet', she glanced at what she was carrying "You clearly need help with your bags."

"I'm not that weak!" Vidalia laughed, Pearl looked down to her feet. That wasn't what she meant but she would rather hold her tongue and not make a big deal of it.

They did end up walking back to Vidalia's house, the young mother found it hard to disagree with Pearl when she said that the fog might lift once they had put everything away in the kitchen. Or at least that's what Pearl thinks it was like for Vidalia, she isn't **that** good at reading people.

Pearl walked into Vidalia's house, slightly tired from her ventures in the fog. It was nice and warm and was certainly a very welcoming house. Sourcream was quick to sit on the big armchair in the living room, a determined and proud expression was on his face. Pearl takes a quick glance around as she walks into the kitchen. There where several pictures of Sourcream and Vidalia as well as some old photos of Vidalia and Amethyst, a picture that stood out slightly was of Vidalia and a man that was in a fisherman's coat. The dancer wasn't going to question it, Vidalia was bound to have some admirers, but a fisherman was not something that screams 'Vidalia.' If anything she would have ended up with some band manager.

"Let me help," Pearl says to the young woman as she entered the kitchen and helped hoist the bags up onto the counter with no trouble.

"Wow, you're quite strong!" Vidalia absently comments as she begins to rummage through a bag, Pearl blushed slightly at the compliment and began to help with sorting things.  
"Amethyst told me you were a fencer," Vidalia began to fill the silence,

"I still am," Pearl replied, "I've won several championships." She added, but tried not to sound cocky in any way. She hasn't been fencing in a long time and would lose in the very basic of spars if she was to attempt it again in the state she was in now.

"Wow! and here I thought Amethyst was making it up," Vidalia smiled as she struggled to put a big bottle of water into a cabinet. Pearl noticed this right away and easily lifted the container with one hand and moved it. "Yep, definitely a champion!" Pearl blushed again at this,

"Amethyst is stronger though," Pearl said a little sadly, "In more ways than one…"

Vidalia must have noticed the drastic change of tone, she began placing more objects into the upper cabinets and finally turned back to Pearl once she was done, seemingly found something good to say.  
"Look, Amethyst may keep a lot of stuff from me, but I know something big happened a few years ago," Vidalia then focused her attention back onto another bag and began to silently rummage in it, "What I can tell you though, is that you seem to be way stronger about it than Amethyst was."

Pearl picked her eyes off the ground and looked back to Vidalia and then back onto a bag in front of her where she continued to rummage around and organise food and miscellaneous objects.  
"Really?" Pearl asked her, she cringed at the much deeper and doubtful tone she used.

"Really." Vidalia placed some tinned food into place,

"But, How?" Pearl placed some bottles of sun-seed oil and other food additives and ingredients safely within reach,

"Amethyst refused to speak to anyone, even me," Vidalia paused, "You kept talking to people, you would even smile at times."

"Hah, where did you hear the from?" Pearl also paused, almost laughing, "I never spoke to anyone for a year. Amethyst isn't the most truthful when-" Pearl stopped herself.

Vidalia looked confused at first and then had no expression at all. Pearl had finally managed to leave her speechless.

"Vidalia… I…" Pearl backed up a little, panicking at what to say. 'I knew this was a bad idea, I should have just carried on home by myself…'

"No, I understand that you are upset by whatever happened…" Vidalia said as she finished up her second bag as Pearl finished hers,

After a moment of awkward silence, Pearl took a deep breath and turned to the young mother.  
"Do you want to know what happened?" Pearl asked, she was met with a nod from Vidalia. Pearl took another breath, "S-someone died two years ago,"

"O-oh," Vidalia clasped a hand over her mouth,

"She was… Everything to me." Pearl sighed, "at least her son's fine." The dancer tried not to think about her and instead focused on a jar of peanut butter, intensely.

"I, never knew," Vidalia sighed, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"It's fine," Pearl smiles a little, she looks outside and found that the fog had lifted enough to return home, "I should really get going…" 'I need to leave this place.'

"I understand, better go before the fog comes back with a vengeance." Vidalia smiled.  
Pearl turned to leave and Vidalia handed over her plastic bag, "I slipped in a few things for ya!" She winked and earned a smile from Pearl, "a welcoming gift."

"Amethyst is going to visit on Saturday," Pearl said before she opened the front door to leave, "I'm sure she would like to meet with you."

"I'll keep an eye out then!" Vidalia grinned.

Pearl parted with a smile and walked back home, she groaned at the previous train-wreck of a conversation 'Why can't you have a simple chat?' Pearl sighed and continued back home, surprised how easily she could find her way. The layout of the City was easy to remember, it was definitely harder to remember the layout when she couldn't see anything. After some scenery changes she found the lonely house.

Still very lonely and overlooking the sea.

She walked up to the front door and pulled out her key, slipping inside easily. Pearl still found it strange that such a modern house would have so many problems… She tutted. 'There is no problems with this house. It's me. I'm the one over exaggerating.' 'Then what about Opal? She **said** that the house was peculiar.' Pearl quickly dropped the subject.

It was quiet like usual, Pearl walked to her kitchen and easily put everything away. Finally she could tick that off of her list, it only took half the day. She groaned as she looked back to her list for what she had to do next, the house was completely clean, so no cleaning was required, no organising, food's been bought, fog's rolling back… It seemed like there was absolutely nothing left to do…

But there was one thing…

She went into one of her drawers and brought out a flashlight, then turned slowly to the panel on the floor.

"Let's see what's in that basement…"


	5. Chapter 5 - Abandoned Secret

Chapter 5 - Abandoned Secret

Pearl hesitated as she approached the panel, flashlight in one hand and her phone in the other. She held her breath as she crouched down and tried to open the hatch, the earlier hesitance was soon forgotten as she tried and failed to open the hatch several times.  
Standing up, she looked round the house for some inspiration or clue as to why it was nearly impossible to open a simple panel. She could break it if she wanted to. But Pearl had a suspicion that Opal may have had a hand in this, she analysed Opal's things that she left and noticed something fall when she moved the quiver. Bending down and picking up the metallic object, she noted that it was a rather strange key, it had the regular key handle but the head of the key was non-existent.

It was just a fancy metal stick.

Pearl glanced back to the hatch and then back again to the key in her hands, doubt was evident on her face as she walked back to the panel and traced the edges with her fingers. Surprisingly, Pearl found a small square hole near one of the edges and easily slotted the key in. After a few clicks she managed to open the hatch.

Pearl felt a surge of pride and triumph before it finally dawned on her what she had done. Grabbing her flashlight from her pocket, she turned it on and pointed it down to the abyss that was her basement. Taking a final breath of clean air, Pearl slowly descended.

The basement was dark, cold and uncomfortably big. Moving the torch around in the darkness proved to be unrewarding, the basement was completely empty. Pearl tutted a little and continued to walk around the room, still nothing other than cold brick walls.  
She was about to turn back and re-seal the area when finally Pearl noticed something even stranger than a panel on the floor.

There was a **hole** in the **wall**.

At first, Pearl didn't know what to think of it, she just blankly stared at it for a moment. When finally regaining motor function, Pearl walked up to the hole and like **any** other person stared inside it. It was still pitch black but after putting the torch in, Pearl could see some sort of metallic objects in the mysterious room. She must have not been sane in the mind at that moment as the fencer decided to slip inside and fully investigate what was wrong with this house.

She never done it **straight** away though, she's not that impulsive. Most normal people wouldn't even go into a basement and yet here she was. Staring inside a hole. A nest? A monster? A murderer? Pearl gave herself chills thinking about it, she could just imagine being thrown against a wall and being stabbed or torn apart. 'What do I have left to live for anyway?'

Pearl shifted and put her left shoulder through the opening and slowly but surely squeezed herself inside, she grimaced slightly as the brickwork grazed against her scratches and also got herself covered in dust. Recovering from her tight situation, she aimed her only light source to eye level and began surveying the area. First she started with the obvious decision and looked at the metallic objects in the far corners.  
The walk over to the corner was unnecessarily slow, the room was **the definition** of creepiness, it was too long, too dark, too cold, it never even had a proper entrance! Pearl eventually survived the walk and examined the shining objects in the dark.

Pearl's blood froze. Before her lay several different surgical instruments, including some she never seen up until now.  
Her mind filled with screaming and pleading, it was as if the instruments were talking to her, telling her a brutal story. She looked away and the whisperings stopped.

If she thought about leaving before, she defiantly thought about it now, but she never forgot the possibility that she might find something else. It was strange, after the first shock Pearl was completely calm. Something finally happened in her routine of a depressed life.  
Before moving on she pulled out her phone and took a photo. It was evidence if the police where to be involved at any point.  
'Like searching for a dead body, mine!' Pearl mentally slapped herself, but there was some truth to it. If something was to happen to her, she would rather have her phone left behind so that someone could piece everything together.

Pearl continued walking around the room, inspecting more bizarre instruments and snapping more pictures. Somehow she managed to stumble across some desks and cabinets, they where old and made of wood that was now decaying. Carefully opening the drawer and trying not to use too much force, Pearl uncovered several stacks of what seemed to be research notes. Skimming over them, she found nothing of particular interest, most of the pages where decayed to the point of illegibility and others hand poor handwriting.  
'I'll give them one thing, they have worse handwriting than Amethyst. I never thought it possible.' She grumbled and snapped a few pictures of the pages.

Opening a few more cabinets and desk drawers proved to be futile, the only legible thing was a stamp of some sort of company, it was a large diamond with four diamonds inside in their respectful sections. The diamonds where extremely simplistic, it was the diamond that you could find on a playing card after all. There seemed to be writing around the stamp but Pearl couldn't decipher it so she placed the paper back onto the table and looked around some more.

There were more things near the walls that where covered in big white sheets, a few where close by to the large hole she came in from. Pearl was not a brave enough person for this, as she kept a distance away from the covered tables and… Things. 'Who knows what is hiding underneath?' She did take a picture, but just looking at the covers gave her the chills. As if there was something there screaming at her to stay away.

She pointed her flashlight to the ceiling after she felt something drip onto her shoulder and found water pipes run right into another large hole in the wall 'guess that explains the plumbing' Pearl grumbled as she once again investigated the ridiculous structure of the basement. Pearl went through the new opening, it was big enough to be a pathway and sighed slightly in relief when she didn't need to squeeze through it like the other one.

Pearl discovered more bizarre things as she followed the strange pipes, more metal tables under large white sheets that where surprisingly clean despite the dust. The further Pearl followed the pipes, the colder it got.  
A slip of the torch revealed a wall that wasn't visible before, she paused and frowned. The wall had the same symbol from before, a large diamond with four diamonds inside. Pearl wondered on the engravings that where finally legible,  
"For a purpose, We are made?" Pearl bit her bottom lip, 'Is this some sort of futuristic, conspiracy cult or something?' She took a photo and then left her thoughts alone and continued the pipe trail.

The pipes twisted and groaned from the water sitting in them, they overlapped and then conjoined with one another. Pearl was shocked at what she found once they ended.

It was a large glass tank filled with an eerie green water. It was difficult to see anything inside despite the glow, but Pearl could have sworn she seen some movement. Yet another picture was taken and despite the terrible situation she joked about becoming a photographer.

Approaching the tank slowly, Pearl held her breath as she crept closer to the glass. Then she sighed in relief once she seen nothing.  
'Of course there's nothing, this is probably some sort of boiler'…

Or so she thought, until a **hand** slammed on the other side of the glass and nearly gave her a heart-attack.

Pearl fell back and watched as the hand disappeared into the green water only for a fist to re-appear and pound in desperation.

In a sudden panic, Pearl climbed back onto her feet and watched the figure in the tank. She made out the hands to be feminine and with some concentration an outline was seen or a hunched over figure. How were they not drowning? How long were they in there for? The pounding stopped and the figure pulled back their hands from the glass. Pity overwhelmed the fencer as whoever or whatever in the tank had curled into a ball and was floating away from the glass.

Pearl groaned and began to search for a way to open the tank, she could complain later about how stupid she was being. There was no power on any of the computers or equipment around the tank so the fencer concluded that it could only mean that it had to be opened manually.  
Pearl climbed onto the closest table and from there she climbed to the top of the tank, she took a breath as found the opening hatch. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the metal lever and pulled, it groaned in protest as she tried to pry it open. Eventually she forced the hatch lever upwards with a sharp 'snap'.  
Looking down into the murky liquid, and doubting she made the right decision, Pearl reached into the water. She wouldn't deny that she felt like a fool sticking her arm into who-knows-what were something could potentially pull her in. She felt a touch and then jolted when something grabbed her arm, she gasped and started to panic, in an attempt to escape she dragged her arm out of the water with all her strength.  
She cursed at what an idiot she was, this was how she was going to die… At the hands of a monster that she set free. Any moment now and she'll be dragged into the tank or shredded to pieces, **or both**. Some brutal images of blood and gore flashed in her mind and she couldn't cry out for help...

That is, until she looked again at the figure…


	6. Chapter 6 - Escape

Chapter 6 - Escape

Pearl was in complete shock as she pulled out a girl from the water, she dropped her flashlight to her side and held her balanced. The girl looked back at her with confusion and disbelief, but it was still much too dark to fully see her features.

They both jolted when a clang was heard far off in the darkness, It was sharp and sounded like metal scraping together or a rusty door being opened quickly. the girl tightly hung onto Pearl. The taller girl could feel her shiver under her fingers.

"Please!" The girl whispered in a desperate voice, Pearl instantly recognised it as the voice from the phone. "Please, they're coming back, get me out of here!"  
The fencer was hesitant in picking the girl up, mostly due to the fact she was completely naked and she never wanted to be inappropriate, but also due to not knowing anything about this girl. She seemed almost deceptively weak.  
'She might be faking it, trying to lure me in, any second now and I'm dead.'  
After another clang that was closer than the last. Pearl panicked, grabbed her flashlight and then wrapped her arms around the girl as tightly as possible and jumped down from the tank, water went everywhere.

At this rate whoever was coming back would easily follow the water that was dripping off the girl.

Pearl acted fast and sprinted to a table covered by a sheet, she placed the girl onto the table and she could feel her shiver and hold her breath. Pearl didn't want to think about what the girl had experienced on these tables. Pearl could guess that it had something to do with the surgical equipment the way she flinched when the tools clattered to the floor. The thought was terrifying.  
Quickly grabbing the edges of the sheet and bundling up the girl, dust flew everywhere but Pearl did not rest as she picked her up again and sprinted back. She passed by the strange symbol on the wall, the documents she searched through and various metal surgical equipment. All whilst the sound of creaking drew closer.

When they finally reached the crack leading into the basement Pearl panicked when she realised she wouldn't have enough time to fit through in time, looking back she seen a light in the distance draw closer. The girl in her arms gasped and grabbed hold of Pearl's shoulder.

Glancing round, Pearl quickly found a few hiding places in the corner of the room that held the dusty sheets, cobwebs and more metal tables, she held her breath and cringed once she realised she had to hide under one of them.

Pearl couched down to the floor and lay under a table with some surgical equipment, she then turned off her flashlight, the girl was cradled in her arms and was also holding her breath.

It was heart-pounding hearing the footsteps ahead of her, it never helped that she felt like she was about to sneeze or cough and that the spiders were disrupted by the destruction of a few webs. she listened intently to whoever was walking about.

"Subject: Mirror, has escaped." She heard a nasally voice claim, "thank goodness…"

Pearl was slightly shocked at what the voice started blabbering on about next, something about knowing this would happen, it not being her problem anymore and then worrying about what happens next.

After listening to this for some time, Pearl lifted the cover slightly and took a glance at who was speaking. She found a short girl wearing a hood talking into her phone, she was recording and wasn't having any conversation with anyone, she was also pacing between the uncovered desks. Any form of threat that the recording girl held was lost in that moment, the fencer considered exposing herself.  
Pearl was faced with an unwanted decision. The figure in front of her was tense and her breathing was erratic. 'I'd better not risk it...' Pearl thought, 'This person needs help and she clearly does not want to get spotted... I'm not going to trap her in that tank.'

Pearl dropped the cover once the strange girl started walking towards her, but as she dropped the cover a metal scalpel dropped from the table and unfortunately plunged it's blade into her arm. Pearl grunted and tugged her arm under the cover but ended up hitting the instrument against the metal table leg with a 'clang'.

She lightly whimpered, tears forming and she bit her lip to stay as silent as possible. Pearl looked down at the girl she saved, she could barely see her in the darkness but she heard the sharp intake of breath, a gasp.  
The sudden dust and bleeding injury from dropping the cover was going to either make her sneeze or cough. Pearl quickly put her hand over the girls mouth and they waited like that until the danger of detection had passed.

"What was that?" She heard the nasally voice again and the light illuminated through the sheets.

Pearl caught a glimpse of the girls wide frightened eyes as she lay in front of her, she lightly shushed her and moved her injured arm. It was a bad idea as the scalpel sticking from her forearm hit against the metal of the table again and a flash of pain shot up her arm. Thankfully two hands clasped around her mouth.

After waiting for what felt like hours, cold sweat trickling down Pearl's neck, a shuffle was heard and the figure walked quickly away. Pearl sighed in relief and smiled even though the quivering girl in front of her never seen it.  
Pearl lifted the cover carefully and looked round, it was dark once again and she could hear some creaking in the distance. She jumped when she heard a cough and looked down to the girl who had given up her valiant struggle in holding it in.

Pearl then crept out the hiding space and survey the area, she couldn't see anything at all nor could she hear anything other than the girl now coughing under the table. It sounded like choking and the fencer shivered as strange thoughts of fires filled her mind. Slowly turning the torch on again, Pearl awkwardly looked down at the girl and back to her arm, the sharp scalpel still stuck in her forearm. The girl gasped and slowly sat up and crawled towards her.

'I need to pull it out,' Pearl shakily breathed out. She pointed the torch to her arm and gave it to the girl to hold, she held it a little too shakily but it was enough light. Clasping the handle, Pearl bit down onto her shirt collar and tugged with all her might. She whimpered out a cry and welcomed the cold touch of the girl's hand pressuring the wound. Some blood squirted out and hit them before it began to profusely bleed.

Wasting no more valuable time, Pearl ripped some of the tables sheet and wrapped it around her arm, dropping the bloody scalpel. With a huff she then picked the girl up and quickly walked to the opening that got her into this strange area.  
Pearl dropped the girl onto her feet by the crack in the wall, she held her steady for a moment as she tried to regain enough balance to manage squeezing through 'I wonder if she can even walk,' Pearl huffed as she watched their backs 'That would be awkward, if she could walk all along and I just carried her around,' She huffed again 'she's bound to be able to walk, knowing my luck of attracting awkward moments.' The girl slipped through quickly and she heard her fall to her knees on the other side 'Perhaps not.'

"Hurry up," She heard her whisper and so Pearl squeezed through the opening after looking back a few times making sure they weren't followed, her bruises and scrapes stung as she suddenly felt the pain now after such an adrenaline rush and her forearm pulsed.

When both where safely at the other side, Pearl shakily picked the girl off the floor and walked up the stairs. It was midnight and the sky was dark. She placed the girl onto the couch and then quickly closed the panel and removed the key. Ignoring the pain she felt, she tested if it would open and after being certain that it was locked shut, Looked at the metal key again. 'I have to lock it away.' repeated through her mind and she ran up the stairs to her desk and locked the key inside one of the drawers.

Returning downstairs in a trance. Pearl turned to the figure still lying on the couch, she was breathing softly and by the looks of it had fallen asleep. Pearl had all the intentions to cleaning out her wound, but slowly she was growing faint and tired. Sitting down near the girl, Pearl also closed her eyes and found herself succumb to a dreamless sleep.


	7. Chapter 7 - Lapis Lazuli

Chapter 7 - Lapis Lazuli

When Pearl woke up in the morning she had to stop herself from falling out the armchair she had fallen asleep on. The room was lit up by beams of sunlight and she considered it to be very picturesque, the sea gently lapped at the sand and a nice breeze was coming in. Pearl had almost forgot that the house was literally from the pits of hell, 'Just when will Garnet be done? How much longer do I have to wait here?! I want out!'  
Pearl took a beep breath and then she slowly looked at the figure still asleep on the couch. The events of last night flashed through her head and she could feel her heartbeat get faster as she stared at the girl.  
Cautiously standing up, Pearl hisses at the sharp pain in her arm. Looking down she remembered the incident with the scalpel and huffs with distain.  
Stubbornly Pearl climbs up the stairs to her small room, thankful that the stairs did not creak too loudly. Opening a drawer she grabs a change of clothes and a towel, she pauses for a moment and decides to grab another shirt and pants 'I don't think it will fit exactly, but it's better than nothing.' she tutted. On her return to the living room nothing had changed, the girl was still asleep and the panel locked tightly. She glared at it and noted to herself to avoid it at all costs.  
'This is what I get for venturing into creepy basements! Mysterious people, holes in walls, surgical equipment!' she thought bitterly, 'never again.'

Pearl left the clothes for the girl beside her and walked into the bathroom, the lights flickered slightly as she finally took her shower. It was a pang of normality in an otherwise abnormal situation. The water was clear and clean, washing away the dust and dirt of the nightmare she endured and Pearl sighed in joy that there was no deep cuts like last time… Then she looked at her arm and grunted 'Of course, there's always something I forget…'  
She peeled the make-shift bandage off the wound, the rag was covered in a dark brown substance. 'Dried Blood…' Something to thank **would** have been that the cut stopped bleeding, if Pearl had never agitated it. Yet again the dark red liquid mingled with the water that traveled along the other various bruises and scratches dotted around her body. This time it was real.

Pearl stepped out the shower and took a small 'medical bag' from the counter, it wasn't that impressive of a med kit. She pulled out some proper bandages and chuckled a little darkly. She never in her life expected to be using the bandages that she would use for fencing or dancing accidents to secure cloth on a bleeding, deep cut made by a surgical scalpel. Pearl also took out some rubbing alcohol and wearily stared at the needle and thread.  
She groaned as she realised that the cut was far too deep to leave it alone. Taking out a lighter, she flicked it on and ran the needle through it, carefully with some tweezers she threaded it and looked down to her injury.

'Why am I doing this to myself? Sure I can do first aid, anyone can! I'm not a doctor.'

She groaned and dropped the needle, the cotton and alcohol will have to do.

After patching herself up and dressing, Pearl came out of the shower and surprise, surprise, the girl was a heavy sleeper. She smiled slightly at the peaceful face the girl had, in the daylight she could see her features clearly, she had a small perked nose and dark hair that seemed to shimmer blue, it complemented well with her very slight tan. But Pearl then blushed, she had been staring way too long 'but was she always this pretty?' she dismissed the thought though, most of her friends where attractive. Especially… 'Her'.

Pearl sighed sadly and walked into the kitchen area and began making herself a cup of tea. She was eager to distract herself, with a quick glance back, she decides to make two cups instead.  
After some waiting, the tea was made and Pearl wondered if it was best to wake the girl on the couch. 'I don't want to scare her…' 'Then again I don't want her sleeping all day, I want answers…' 'But she must be exhausted…' 'Then again, the couch…' during this thought process Pearl heard movement behind her and jumped in surprise. Looking back she found the girl was awake and wearily taking in her surroundings.

"You're awake," Pearl stated with and she walked up to the girl with the tea. She frowned in concern when the girl flinched as she approached, "Here, I made you some tea." She gave the girl the light cup as slowly and comfortingly as possible, trying to hide her confidence that the berry tea will sooth her.

"Thank you," she replied, graciously accepting the cup with shaking bloodied hands, "thank you so much."

"It's just tea," Pearl blurts out as she sits in the seat closest to the girl,

"What? No!" she sharply replied, and visibly frowned at her tone, "I mean… you saved me!"

"Oh…" Pearl sighed, taking a sip of the tea, 'It's been rather eventful recently…'

"Who… Who are you?" The girl asked cautiously.

"I'm Pearl," The fencer replied, taking another sip of tea.

"Pearl… It's nice," the girl commented and made Pearl blush slightly,

"T-thank you?" she replied,

"I'm Lapis, Lapis Lazuli," She finally introduced herself,

"That's a nice name… Lapis…" Pearl murmured, it rolled easily off the tongue.

They went into an awkward silence and the girl, Lapis, stared strangely at her cup.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked, 'does she not like tea? Is it me? Have I done something wrong again?'

"Oh! No it's um..." She awkwardly stared at the cup, "I've just never had... This... Before. All the liquids I've ever drank have been..." Lapis paused and Pearl could see she was hesitant to continue,

"Just... Take your time," Pearl replied awkwardly, she had absolutely no idea what to say or do, "it's called tea and it's better to drink while it's warm... Unless you **want** to drink it cold, some people drink it cold-" Pearl stopped herself, she was beginning to ramble and that made her get even more flustered than she was originally. She took a sip of her drink and seen Lapis watch her intensely. It was as if she was analysing the movements she made and judging them silently, whatever she was doing it made Pearl blush.  
Lapis then slowly brought the cup to her lips, Pearl blushed even more when she realised that the girl was copying her exact movements and in a way it made her feel exposed. Pearl watched her slowly take a sip and put the cup back down, never had she been this eager on a response.

"It's... Sweet." Lapis replied, "I like it."

That made the dancer softly smile.

They continued drinking their tea in silence, but unlike before it wasn't awkward, they simply were too tired to say anything. However Pearl did notice that Lapis watched her arm with slight guilt, she looked down wondering if it had bled through the bandage yet.

"It's alright now," Pearl said softly,

"But-" Lapis tried to no success and wrapped the sheet around herself, Pearl jumped as Lapis coughed as soon as she got more dust in her face from the sheet. Her hands were also still covered in dried blood. 'My dried blood...'

"Oh! Umm… You can have a shower and wear those clothes," Pearl said, pointing the pile as she stood up with the empty cups, "I'm sure they'll fit you."

"Thank you," Lapis replied with a faint smile as she picked the clothes up and stood up slowly. Pearl took the empty tea cups to the kitchen and kept her eyes off Lapis, resisting the urge to glance back as she heard the sheet fall onto the floor and then proceeded to beat herself up over the fact that she even considered looking back at the girl. As soon as the bathroom door closed, Pearl huffed and seen only the discarded sheet.

Pearl looked at the sheet with a frown, it was covered in dust and it was speckled with dried blood 'My blood... Why is it always blood?' By the time Lapis exited the shower wearing the black top and white pants Pearl gave her, the sheet was folded neatly and put into the cupboard 'If I was allowed to burn things, the sheet would be no more,'. The fencer blushed slightly at Lapis but nothing in comparison to how she blushed before. Her social inexperience was tormenting her.

"You look nice," Pearl complimented, the girl shyly smiled in response and they both fell into a silence. Pearl watched the girl at the corner of her eye, Lapis was torn between looking around the room and staring outside the window. Eventually she ended up leaning against the couch and staring through the blinds, enthralled by the sea.

"Where are we?" She glanced at Pearl, the captivation of the sea still in effect,

"We're in Beach city," The taller girl responded, joining Lapis at the window,

"It's so… Bright," Lapis commented, "and… warm."

Pearl smiled slightly until a buzzing was heard, she pulled out her phone and found a text message from Garnet. Lapis looked quizzically at the phone and looked slightly nervous by it.  
Pearl tapped on the screen and brought up the message,

"Weather's looking good, Amethyst is visiting you today, meant to be a surprise." Pearl froze slightly and continued reading, "Have to help Greg with Steven, Will move in about a month or so." Having a silent panic attack Pearl sighed and checked her calendar.  
Friday, of course Amethyst is the one to be sent to check on her a day before, Pearl groaned.

"Is there something wrong?" Lapis asked, she clearly noticed Pearl's not-so-inner turmoil,

"I have a friend coming over," Pearl replied, "She's a very annoying friend that doesn't know you're here."

"Oh…" Lapis understood, something Pearl appreciated,

"But she won't get here until six I'm guessing, that gives us around eight or nine hours," Pearl predicted, "so that gives us enough time to get you home.

"Home?" Lapis paused, "I don't have one."

This little rescue just got even harder. Pearl excused herself and brought down her laptop and then sat it onto the counter, Lapis floated around her and then finally sat down on the bar stool beside her. Pearl knew this was definitely illegal, but she had a gift for finding and tracking people. After nearly three hours of searching with the little bits of information from Lapis, she found nothing. She was wasting valuable time with no results, with a groan Pearl removed herself from the servers and replaced a few codes, no-one would know that she was even there.

Lapis Lazuli was a ghost, in better words, she does not exist. No birth records within the country or any other likely country she may have been from, no missing person claims of any age with her name on Police records, no social media or any affiliations with her name. Pearl rubbed her temples, even Lapis herself couldn't provide any information on who she is.

"How long were you in there?" Pearl asked,

"A long time," Lapis responded,

"Do you know who that short girl was?" Pearl tried again,

"No," Lapis responded, causing Pearl to sigh, "but…" Lapis began, Pearl instantly perked up, "She let me out the tank once and placed that thing in her hands in front of me…" 'that solves the case of the mystery caller,' Pearl thought as she turned her laptop off, "But... She sealed me back in there. I wanted out and she kept me there." Lapis sighed and Pearl frowned, 'If I never liked them before, I certainly don't like them now.'

"Do you remember not being in the tank?" Pearl asked as she came back down again,

Lapis went pale, a memory she apparently never wanted to remember, "It… hurt…" She mumbled out and then covered her face with her hands.

Pearl could literally slap herself right now, "No! no!" Pearl walked over to Lapis and cautiously placed a hand onto Lapis's shoulder, she felt her flinch and then shiver. "I never meant it like that… I wanted to know about the life you had before getting trapped in that place."

But Lapis wasn't listening, she was rocking herself with her face and hands buried into her knees "They… They left me there…" Lapis said from under her trembling palms,

"Who left you?" Pearl asked, Lapis stayed silent, "The one we encounter down there?" She seen Lapis shake her head, "then who?"

"THEM!" Lapis cried out, Pearl could see tears run down Lapis's arms and she was breathing heavy. Without thinking, Pearl hugged Lapis, earning a sniff from the panicking girl in her arms.

"They won't get you here," Pearl confidently said, "I'll make sure of it."


	8. Chapter 8 - Problematic Friends

Chapter 8 - Problematic Friends

After an emotional morning, Pearl looked back at a calmed down Lapis Lazuli. She was gazing out the window and watched the bright sky and sea crashing into a nearby cliff, it was still strange to Pearl that after saving Lapis she could finally hear the sea 'I'm just imagining things, I'm always imagining things.' But there was no time to think about **why** , now she had to think of **what to do**. She had voluntarily undertaken the duty to care for this lost girl when she could hardly care about herself and of all people **Amethyst** is going to arrive in six hours.

"Are you okay?" Lapis looked back at Pearl, who had begun to nervously pace in the living room,  
Pearl grumbled in response and continued to pace around the room, thoughtfully bringing a hand up to her chin.

Lapis had found a new show to enjoy and Pearl was hardly concerned that the other was contentedly watching her and continued to pace.

"Tell me what you're thinking." Lapis instructed and Pearl was easy to comply.

"We could hide you," Pearl mumbled,

"I'm not okay with that," Lapis replied, "the last time we had to hide I nearly blew our cover. **Literally**."

Pearl smiled at her humour "Not to forget Amethyst likes to find hidden corners in houses for pranks."

"I could leave…" Lapis said, glancing back to the sea,

"I'm not happy with that," Pearl replied, "anything could happen to you and you have never been in public before." Pearl gripped her temples again and her cheeks flushed, "I- I mean you **could** leave it's just that you don't have a clue about the real world and-" Pearl stopped herself as she noticed the small smile that grew on Lapis's face, she could die at how embarrassed she was.

"I could meet your friend," Lapis hummed,

Pearl paused. Amethyst; loud, insensitive, childish, obnoxious. Anything could go wrong and how would Pearl even begin to explain to her who Lapis was?

'I saved her from my creepy basement where she was potentially tortured and experimented on,'  
Definitely not.

Pearl looked at Lapis, sure she was wearing clothes **now** , but Amethyst will notice that the shirt was something she gave to Pearl and the shorts was something Pearl would wear. Not to even mention that it was something completely inappropriate for a first meeting. Amethyst will definitely get the wrong impression and would start making assumptions just like she would do when 'she' was around… No, bad topic! bad topic! Pearl could feel her face go an even brighter red and she looked away from an intrigued Lapis.

"There is no other option…" Pearl sighed in defeat, she looked back to Lapis, "you'll meet Amethyst, but before that I need to go out."

"You're leaving?" Lapis tilted her head slightly, Pearl had to resist the look as she grabbed her front door keys.

"I'll be back," Pearl said opening the door, "I need to lock the door in case of anyone getting in, I'll be only a few minutes!"  
Lapis never had enough time to even decline as Pearl quickly shut the door and locked it, she glanced back and faintly seen Lapis look out the window, 'good the sunlight makes it hard to look in,' Pearl thought, 'am I kidnapping right now? This can't be right... I need to go apologise so that she doesn't get the wrong idea-' 'NO!' She stopped herself, Pearl had to go now or never. She quickly ran off to the store that she went to with Vidalia. 'Would I go to jail if someone found her locked in a house? What if Amethyst came early! and early as in earlier than she has been in her life!' Pearl grumbled, it was a struggle to get away from the house.

It was much better in the sunlight and with no fog, what took her hours to get to before now easily got to in five minutes at maximum. Pearl went inside and found the clothing isle, she was happy that everything was organised neatly and she was **very** happy with the selection. But there was no time to browse! She had to find something Lapis-like not Pearl-like and that was not as simple as it sounded.

Starting with colour, Pearl noticed that she looked flattering in cool and dark colours, this was something that Pearl would never wear herself as she liked warm colours. Pearl looked through the selection and found a nice light summer dress, blue with an exposed back, she took one a little smaller then her current size and then looked through other options.

A blue top, some black trousers, the whole experience was uncomfortable and she felt her cheeks go red ever so slightly as she grabbed some under-wear, not even paying attention to what she picked up. Pearl cursed Amethyst for making her go red for sensitive things, Pearl cringed, ' **sensitive?** any word and you chose that one. Well done Pearl. Well done.'

She continued down the isle, she was done but something felt missing. The clothes where fine but seemed to be plain and have no character, Pearl glanced at the accessory section and found something that reminded her of Lapis it was perfect as a gift for forgiveness.  
Finally done, Pearl paid for the things and walked quickly out the store, she then began the run back home, she made sure to seem casually passing by some recognisable faces but she never stopped walking quickly.

When Pearl finally entered the house and closed the door behind her, she was pinned to the door by a tight hug.

"You came back!" Lapis sighed in relief,

"I told you didn't I?" Pearl replied with a smile she soon dropped "I'm sorry."

"Why did you leave?" Lapis backed away with a slight blush and looked at the bag in Pearl's hand,

"I went and bought you some clothes so that Amethyst won't be suspicious of you wearing my clothes." Pearl reached into the bag and emptied it neatly.

"This is pretty," Lapis pointed at the dress, "and I like these too…" She pointed at the shirt and dark jeans, Pearl held her breath as she pointed at the rest of the apparel.

" I hope everything fits you." Lapis nodded and Pearl took this as her cue to leave and walked away, she then heard Lapis pick something up and walk into the bathroom to change. Pearl looked at the clock sitting on the wall.

'Not long until she get's here,'

Pearl nervously began clenching and relaxing her hands and started checking her phone for any messages from anyone at all. Surprisingly, just as she was about to set the device down, she got a text from Amethyst,

"Yo P! Blue of white?" Pearl just stared at the comment for a moment before sending a confused reply,

"Don't ask! Blue or White?" Pearl sighed, she might as well play along with her strange shenanigans and with Lapis on the brain she replied 'blue'.  
Only after she hit send did Pearl feel she just royally screwed herself over,

"Blue? I felt you where more like a white," Pearl read Amethyst's text, Pearl instead changed the subject and asked what was this for, once again Amethyst refused to answer and left the tall girl panicking.

Pearl sighed and then finally heard the door open and close to the bathroom,

"What do you think?" Lapis asked, Pearl felt extremely proud of herself in that moment once she seen Lapis in her new clothes, it definitely suited her.

"Stunning," Pearl smiled and approached Lapis, "I got you something else, as an apology for leaving you… Locked… In a house… Where you where trapped in the basement…" Pearl decided to shut up and finally pulled out her gift.

It was a necklace, it never looked like much. The chain was just some delicate silver links stuck together and it had a small blue tear drop on the end, but Pearl wasn't the type to buy purposeless things with no meaning or value.  
The was nothing much, but the gem was quite valuable it wasn't a fake as all the marks where genuine, she never knew how she could get away with paying so little for it but ended up settling on the idea that someone misplaced it and it was recognised as some fake cheap accessory instead. 'What an excellent example of how Beach City works.'  
The neckless suited Lapis very well, she smiled slightly at the irony that it was a Lapis Lazuli adorning Lapis Lazuli.

"It's very beautiful," Lapis looked at the polished silver and felt the smoothness of the stone, "I can see why you got this for me…" Lapis said a little strangely,

"Oh?" Pearl prompted her to continue,

"The stone is a Lapis Lazuli," She replied,

"You know the name of stones?" Pearl chuckled a little,

"It's strange, I can't remember ever being outside a controlled environment," Lapis hummed, "yet somehow I remember different little things."

Pearl turned back to Lapis's other clothes and neatly folded them and placed them into the bag and walked into her room, for once Lapis curiously followed her upstairs.  
Lapis watched as Pearl carefully opened one of the lower empty drawers and place the bag inside.  
As always Lapis looked out the window first before looking at most other things,

"So this is your bedroom," Lapis commented, "you have a nice view."

"Thank you," Pearl politely replied and walked down the stairs, Lapis followed her down and then sat down on the couch. In a way it was adorable how she followed her like a lost puppy, but the dancer could only focus on how reliant Lapis currently is. It was sad in a way. But Pearl blushed slightly, remembering something and she turned to Lapis.

"Did um… Did everything fit?" Pearl asked,

"Perfectly," Lapis replied with a small smile, "I should really repay you for this."

"It's nothing," Lapis looked at her a little grumpily, "really." Pearl tried,

Lapis sighed, defeat written on her face. "What do I do once your friend comes?"

Pearl thought for a moment, she had to create some sort of elaborate lie, but not **too** elaborate, then Amethyst wouldn't believe it... She racked her brain for ideas, 'visitor? No... That would mean Lapis had to leave.' 'Relative? Amethyst knows that I have a complicated past and have no relatives.' 'Friend?' Pearl could laugh Since when did I have friends outside Garnet, Amethyst and... **her**?' 'What about Opal? It could just work...' she sighed and settled on the forgetful Opal. "We can pretend that you are an acquaintance of the landlady... and... um... Oh! through some mix-up you are now my room-mate until... Until she comes back from her trip!"  
Pearl was quite proud of that.

Lapis processed the information, "Okay, What's the name of the landlady?"

"Her name is Opal," Pearl answered, "She's gone for a week at least, but her trip could take up to a month." 'She wrote down all the details **other** than how long the trip will be... Classic Opal.'

"Right…" Lapis grumbled and held the bridge of her nose. Pearl felt a little bad for giving her so much information to remember in such little time, but there was no other way around it. This was what they agreed to do and now they must see it through to the end.

They jumped at the sound of a loud thud and they instantly looked towards the basement panel, Pearl watched Lapis's flushed face drain of colour and her shoulders tense up. The fencer frowned at the thought of having something do harm to Lapis, she may not know her all that well, but she left quite the impression on the taller girl. Another thump was heard and Pearl gulped as she slowly stood up, the panel gave off an ominous aura and flashes of smeared blood and scratches on the floor kept plaguing Pearl's mind. Finally a loud knock come from the front door and Pearl snapped out of her trance. She shakily let out the breath that she unconsciously had been holding, 'It was the front door all along... Just the front door.'  
She then heard an all too familiar voice call out "P! Open up!"


	9. Chapter 9 - Alibi

Chapter 9 - Alibi

Pearl straightened her shirt, took a last glance to the bandage and walked to the front door, Lapis watching her nervously from the couch.

Opening the door, Amethyst stood outside with something suspiciously behind her back.

"Oh, what a surprise…" Pearl said as apathetically as possible. Amethyst pouted.

"Garnet texted you didn't she?"

"Yep." Pearl smirked,

"Here," Amethyst shoved Pearl a bouquet of blue and white flowers like Anemones, spring starflowers, Forget-me-nots and Bluebells, they smelled convincing, but it was clearly made from fabric and were fake.

"Oh! Thank you," Pearl was forced to take the flowers from Amethyst, "I never expected this… Was this from that White or blue question?" Amethyst slightly nodded at that, she always got so quiet when she was doing something meaningful.

Although Pearl may have mistaken her silence, as she realised Amethyst was too busy staring at her bandaged arm. She did answer Pearl though "I couldn't decide so I got a mixture." she kept looking at the bandage and pointed at it.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." Pearl said, readjusting the bandage ever so slightly.

Pearl welcomed Amethyst inside and closed the door behind her, it never took long for Amethyst to see Lapis sitting on the couch.

"Amethyst, this is Lapis," Pearl introduced them and they shared glances, Pearl was busy unwrapping the flowers and placing them into a random vase to notice Lapis's nervousness.

"So…" Amethyst began, "Who is she? A new girlfriend or what?" At this they both jumped a little, Pearl momentarily forgot what to say and then nearly gasped when she remembered.

"L-Lapis is my room-mate!" Pearl snapped as she clanged the vase onto the coffee table,

"Oh?" Amethyst stared at them, "not buying it, Opal said you would be living alone."

"No really!" Lapis replied, "Opal made a slight mistake with the renting of this place and I ended up here!" Pearl wanted to smile so badly at how amazingly Lapis saved her.

"Opal only rented one house…" Amethyst pressured them further,

"Are you sure about that?" Pearl questioned, she couldn't look Amethyst in the eye.

"Yep," Amethyst added,

"Doesn't the papers go to some office?" Lapis asked, Pearl could tell the words vaguely familiar to her due to her expressions, but otherwise Pearl has to applaud the girls skill in quick-thinking lies. It was rather intimidating how sincere she sounded too.

"She is quite forgetful, she could have forgotten about sending Lapis's papers." Pearl added to the idea and thought back a grin aimed at Lapis.

"I don't think house rental has to go through an office," Amethyst frowned, "and even if it did, Opal keeps a notebook to remember important things."

Pearl and Lapis where stumped, they glanced at each other with uncanny timing and that certainly did not help with their predicament,

"You two can stop pretending and just say it," Amethyst grumbled, "I'm not so stupid I can clearly see what you two are doing."

"What we are doing?" Pearl gulped, her heart was racing and yet she grew pale, suddenly becoming very cautious of the panel that was near the back wall.

"You two are dating!" their hearts dropped and stomachs flipped, both taking a breath.

"We're not dating!" Pearl replied, "We barely met each other!"

"So spill! when did you meet?" Amethyst flopped on the couch beside Lapis, looking expectantly at the both of them,

"Last night?" Lapis glanced back to Pearl that blushed but stayed silent, her poor word choice did bite back,

"So, it was last night huh?" Amethyst smirked, "P, you should really take her out before ordering the main course…"

"We did nothing like that!" Pearl's face went red. Lapis was frowning in confusion beside her.

"Whatever you say~" Amethyst grinned, Pearl turned away from her friend and caught a glimpse of Lapis who was deep in thought.

"Are you-?" she tried,

"Can we talk privately for a moment Pearl?" Lapis asked,

Pearl watched Amethyst grin as Lapis took her far enough so that she never heard them,

"What is it?" Pearl turned to Lapis quizzically, quickly getting over the surge of anger towards Amethyst,

"She's giving us a perfect cover," Lapis said,

"W-What?!" Pearl jumped back slightly, "I don't think you understand-"

"I do," Lapis cut her off, "If they think we're dating then they won't question me being here and you taking such good care of me."

"B-but," Pearl could faint, right there and then, she couldn't stop thinking of- "Lapis, I'm not ready… I- I don't think they'll buy it..."  
Lapis raised her eyebrow and they glanced over to Amethyst, who was grinning cheekily.  
"You have a point..." Pearl grumbled, "but still!"

"It's a fake relationship Pearl," Lapis replied soothingly, "We don't have to do anything do we?"

Pearl could whimper slightly, 'am I turning away from-?!' She shook her head in slight determination, 'I can't break down, not in front of Lapis.'

It wasn't long till they returned to the couch, Amethyst grin never waned,

"What was that about?" Amethyst chuckled,

"You're right," Pearl lied with a breaking voice, earning a little 'huh?' from Amethyst, "We're in a relationship."

Pearl would have revelled in Amethyst blank expression, if it wasn't for the words she just said,

"I'm…" Amethyst began darkly, "so… Happy for you! I always knew you could move on!" It was Pearl's turn to 'huh?' as her friend bolted into a hug she really did not need. Thankfully her injured arm was out the way. "So I'm guessing it really **was** a one night stand type thing huh?" and there's the assumption. Just one of many to haunt her.

"One night stand?" Lapis looked to Pearl in confusion, "was that about the 'main' c-"

"Don't." She replied bluntly.

Pearl sighed and sat beside Lapis on the couch, finally calming Amethyst down enough to talk normally "So why are you here?"

"Well…" Amethyst began, "We were going to come down tomorrow and stay over, but Garnet got worried and sent me down today as a surprise, don't know why she would tell you if it was her own idea though."

'I should have known Garnet had a hand in this…' Pearl brought her hands together on her lap...

That was when she heard something that changed everything...

"Are you staying for the night?" Lapis asked, Pearl jumped and glanced between the two speakers,

"Well it does take a long time to get back, and I will just come back tomorrow." Amethyst sighed as Pearl looked disapprovingly at Lapis that just smiled cheekily in reply.

"We don't have an extra mattress of any kind," Pearl said and glared daggers at Lapis,

"I can sleep on the couch," Amethyst said,

"No, you can sleep on the **floor** for all I care." Pearl snapped, 'definitely not on my pristine couch!'

"Pearl." Lapis looked back and gave her own disapproving look at the taller girl,

"What? She'll sleep on **anything**." Pearl huffed and remembered the time Amethyst fell asleep on top of a table, honestly, she couldn't tell her apart from an annoying animal. A very small, loud, lazy animal. 'Like a cat.'

"You have a problem with Lappy here?" Amethyst grinned.

Pearl grew flustered at this, "I-I don't have a problem with Lapis," she remarked,

"Then just share a bed." That was easier said than done.

Pearl still doesn't know why she accepted this… Overnight stay. '10:00' flashed on her digital clock and after wasting some time with Amethyst downstairs, she was ready for the day to just be over. The fencer wasn't against sharing a bed with Lapis... well she was a little... The thought made her blush and think of things she done with 'her' and it just all felt so sudden.

She loomed over Amethyst who was lying on the couch that was covered with some bedsheets and a blanket.

"P. you're freakin' me out." Amethyst looked up at her, she had removed some of her clothing and had them messily piled on one of the chairs, Pearl clenched her jaw at the cast aside boots even more. She will be cleaning sand out the living room at some point the next morning.

"You should stop being so glum, you won't be alone in bed tonight~…"

Pearl had a face that could kill her at any moment…

"Also, you might expose something if you wear that…"

Pearl marked her for death, any day, any time.

"…Unless that's what you went for."

She was **so** going to wake up **dead** in the morning.

As the door to the bathroom opened and the light inside was turned off, Lapis walked out wearing one of Pearl's black shirts and those boy-short underwear things, Both things that Pearl would never in her life wear. Pearl may have blushed slightly, but her face was the same.

"What's with that face?" Lapis asked as she walked to them,

"I am not happy." Pearl replied bluntly,

"Cheer up, Amethyst won't be here tomorrow night," Lapis said, Amethyst snickered, Pearl frowned harder.

Pearl slowly turned to her, "I hope you will survive till morning." She gave her a menacing grin. "The house is apparently haunted."

"You should be saying that to yourself!" Amethyst laughed, "I feel like I diverted the attention you wanted!"

The taller girl grumbled but before Lapis pulled her away she had time to spit out one more remark.  
"If you mess up my couch, **you're done for**."

On that note, Pearl turned the only light in the living room off and was led upstairs by Lapis who prevented her every urge to smother the short girl on the couch.  
Pearl closed the curtains securely behind them, mostly to keep Amethyst out, but also it was to practice her skills at strangulation.

"Okay, calm down," Lapis pulled her away again and sat them both down onto the bed, the light on the bedside table was still on and soon Pearl relaxed.

"This isn't the plan," Pearl turned to Lapis,

"She needs to believe that we are serious," Lapis replied,

"She will believe anything, she doesn't need confirmation," Pearl huffs,

"This is temporary, it'll work I promise" Lapis climbed further onto the bed and stretched out near the wall, slipping under the covers. Pearl soon followed her under the covers and lied down beside her.

They awkwardly stared at each other for a bit before Pearl turned the light off and they looked at each other under the moonlight. They closed their eyes and Lapis held onto Pearl's hand, the taller girl thought nothing of it at first until a vague memory of 'her' entered her mind again. She was smiling warmly at her, soft like she always was and her hair was still as large and as vivid in the dark. Pearl could get lost in her and she softly smiled, holding the hand tighter.

But something was different, the hand she held was not as large as it usually was. Her large curly locks of hair was nowhere to be found and she didn't smell like Roses. Opening her eyes, the taller girl gasped as only the slightly smaller frame of Lapis was beside her.

'That's right... **She** 's gone, and will never come back.'

Pearl quickly pulled away from Lapis and sat up. Too many memories plagued her mind, memories she was not wanting to remember and her eyes stung as if someone sprayed something into her eyes.

"Pearl?" Lapis sat up in concern,

Pearl took a long shaky breath, "Lapis, I'm not ready yet…" She looked out the window, at the bright moon that no-one would pay attention to, "It still hurts… It's too soon."

Lapis still looked confused, "How will I know anything if you don't talk to me?"

"Because it hurts too much to talk about…"

"Then how will I ever help you?" Lapis reached over and touched Pearl's hand, "You saved me, now let me save you."

Pearl wasn't sure how long ago it was when someone would sit with her and listen to how she felt without some catch or payment. Garnet was always working, Amethyst grew tired of listening and she couldn't approach Greg, she was never on good terms with him and now it was **impossible** to ever go near him, not when he had **Steven**.  
She wasn't even sure how long ago it was when she bawled into someone's shoulder and them being completely fine with it, she never even knew how long ago it was since she latched onto someone and the other just comfortably holding her till she fell asleep. It had been **years** and it was exactly what Pearl needed.


	10. Chapter 10 - Eventful Morning

Chapter 10 - Eventful Morning

It was a frightful sleep Pearl endured, full of pain and bloodshed. She was constantly running in her nightmare, something was chasing her down with murderous intent. A beast driven into a frenzy. She sprinted by mutilated corpses and uncontrollable flames, blood and guts, screaming metal and shuddering pipes.  
Pearl tried to look back but only got herself impaled by sharp metal. She looked down as she gasped at the pain, her leg was hanging by only a few tendons and ligaments. She couldn't move it anymore, it was just a lump of meat now.

She couldn't run anymore.

Pearl shivered and tears welled up as the thing got closer. Desperately, she tried to push herself up from the wreckage but she was too weak.  
'Nothing is making sense. What's going on?!'

Pearl closed her eyes with a whimper, awaiting death...

She woke up in cold sweat and jumped when she felt something move beside her. Whatever it was, she couldn't move and she was terrified of opening her eyes. She doesn't want to know what it was. She doesn't want to know the truth. Pearl tried to get away but the thing had her restrained and she clenched her jaw.  
'I don't want to die like this!' With all previous logic out the window, she opens her eyes and...

...It was only Lapis...

Hugging her closely, protectively even. Pearl slowly breathed out and calmed herself down as she remembered the previous night's event and watched the gentle breathing of the girl in her arms.

"Only a dream..." Pearl silently mumbled to herself and smiled. Lapis made a sound at that and the taller girl instantly tensed, Pearl watched Lapis lazily rub her arm as if to soothe her. 'Had she been doing that the whole night?' The dancer blushed. She was rather taken aback at how the shorter girl even managed to react when she was asleep. 'Is she awake? She must be, or perhaps she's not fully awake... Is she faking it?' Pearl picked up Lapis's arm gently with little resistance, it was limp in her grasp and there was no reaction from the girl.  
'She's definitely asleep...'

The dancer shifted slightly and watched Lapis's peaceful expression. It was nice seeing her like this, calm and safe. It was almost as nice as seeing her smile. 'I wonder what she is dreaming about...' Pearl brushed a wisp of bothersome hair out the way, it was soft and tameable unlike some people she knew...

It was at this point were Pearl slapped herself at how weird she was and pried herself off the sleeping girl. She wasn't as elegant as she would have liked as once she had successfully managed to sit up, Lapis yawned and blinked a few times.

"Morning," Lapis said to her with a slight smile,

"Good morning," Pearl replied with a slight blush. She wanted to say something before Lapis said anything, a 'thank you' at least, but all she managed to get out was "Have you ever ate anything before?"

She regretted everything... 'What am I?! An idiot?! How on earth is she alive if she hasn't eaten anythin-'

"No."

"Huh?" Pearl stared at her,

"I have never 'ate' anything before," Lapis repeated, "All I remember is..." She hesitated,

"N-No it's fine!" Pearl instantly said, "what I wanted to ask was if you want to try or... well..."

"I'm okay," Lapis smiled slightly, "but I would like some of that drink you gave me yesterday."

"The tea?"

"Yes."

Pearl smiled brightly, the pride she had in her ability to make tea was something she would never lose "then I'll make you some."

Standing up from the bed, they both headed downstairs and Pearl found the surprising sight of Amethyst sitting up and trapped in a cocoon of blankets.

"Amethyst?" Pearl walked up to her, "You okay?" She put a hand on the shell, a flash of the past hit her as she remembered what Amethyst was like when… 'when Rose died.'

"Wazzat?" Amethyst snored and lifted her head, Pearl sighed in relief. False alarm.

"It's morning, get up." Pearl said bluntly as she headed to the kitchen and grabbed some ingredients for breakfast. 'Pancakes and coffee for Amethyst and just tea for me and Lapis.' She hummed, but when she tried opening the cabinet that contained coffee she was met with resistance. The cabinet wouldn't open like the rest.  
'I've stressed about everything lately, but I'm not going to waste time with this.' Pearl sighed, Amethyst will have to go without any hot beverage. 'and I'm alright with that.' The taller girl grinned slightly, the smell of coffee gives her a headache.

Amethyst soon snapped awake when she smelt syrup, 'like usual' "making breakfast Pearl?"

"Yes." Pearl measured the ingredients with immense precision and added them to a moderately sized bowl.

Amethyst smiled and bolted for the bottle of the sweet topping.

"I **just** started, wait until I actually have made something to eat." Pearl sighed as she put the ingredients in new places out of Amethysts reach, the short girl groaned in protest and sat down onto the couch where Lapis was sitting.

Pearl could hear their conversation faintly, Amethyst asked if anything happened and Lapis denied. Thankfully Lapis never told her anything about Pearl's problems and insecurities, that gave her something less to think about as Pearl continued mixing the batter and making pancakes.

"Oh! I seen a ghost last night!" 'and here's something else to think about' Pearl groaned internally,

"Really? a ghost?" Lapis humoured her as she stood up and walked to the counter with Amethyst.

"It was a girl in a hoodie!" Amethyst continued, the little hint of a smile on Lapis dropped instantly, "she was short! shorter than me! and she spoke to a weird light..." Pearl then placed the food in front of Amethyst and cups of tea on the counter "Thanks Pearl!" Amethyst added.

Pearl and Lapis traded looks as Amethyst began to scarf down her breakfast, she had lost interest for now and it's best not to act suspicious. But when you're still sharing concerned glances whilst drinking tea, someone is bound to notice.

"You two are hiding something…" She grumbled.

This conversation could change into **Anything** at **Any moment** , Pearl sweated at the variables. She could ask about the ghost, Lapis, the relationship with Lapis, last night, today… The list went on and on.

"What?" Pearl nervously asked, glancing at the panel at the back again and then to Lapis. "I thought I told you everything yesterday."

"Yeah but..." Amethyst went silent and turned to the panel, "Where does the panel go?"

"The… Basement?" Lapis responded, giving a glance to Pearl,

"Hmmm…" Amethyst hummed,

She abruptly stood up and walked over to the panel and bent down. Pearl was nervous, but there was no way she could open the panel because the key was locked in a drawer in her room.

'Right?'

Her heart dropped when Amethyst opened the panel and uncovered the sealed space.

Lapis backed away slightly and hid behind Pearl, "It's… unlocked?" Pearl gasped,

"You put the key away… How is it open?" Lapis added to her thoughts,

Amethyst quickly ran passed them and grabbed her phone, "Your secrets will never stay hidden Pearl!" Amethyst laughed and dashed to the basement. 'She doesn't know what she's getting herself into!'. Pearl was quick on her feet and was blocking the path, she was going to close the panel again but Amethyst was stopping her from doing so.

"Wha- Why are you getting in the way?" Amethyst grins as she tries to pry open the panel.

"Why are you snooping around the house?" Pearl retorts as she painfully kept the panel down with her injured arm.

"Is your 'dark' secret that bad?" Amethyst chuckled, "do you have like a dungeon or something? a hidden room? Haha! I never knew you had secrets Pearl!"

"You'd be surprised!"

Standing well away from the panel, Lapis watched them fight over it. Pearl never wanted her to get involved anyway, but as she got distracted by her she was pushed aside by Amethyst and the short girl vaulted down into the basement.

"Hidden rooms here I come!" Amethyst laughed,

Lapis helped Pearl onto her feet and they looked at the basement opening. Pearl sighed.

"Can we just lock her in there?" She looked at Lapis, who shook her head silently. "fine… I'll go get her…" she sighed,  
Pearl grabbed a torch and pointed it into the basement, she then turned back to look at the other girl. She was nervous and pale. "Lapis, I want you to wait here." She nodded and stood firmly at the entrance of the basement. Frozen in place.

Pearl was not happy about going back into this basement, she swore that she would not come back in here and yet now she was searching for Amethyst. She shivered at the coldness, and looked around the dark basement, ' I should have at least put on a hoodie or sweater for this.' Pearl wrapped her arms around her bare shoulders, they were vulnerable to just about anything. Looking back, Lapis was still at the entrance looking in, at least she doesn't have to worry about her following inside.

Curiosity told Pearl to look at the crack in the wall, but then again curiosity killed the cat and she wasn't going to go anywhere near that opening. Pearl grumbled when she realised that the crack is **exactly** the place where Amethyst would go into, with a breath Pearl approached the hole and found her short friend peeking inside.

"Are you done poking into things you weren't meant to?" Pearl sighs,

Amethyst turns in surprise and then grins slightly, "You where hiding this weren't you?" Pearl grumbles slightly at this but did not reply, "where does it go?"

"You don't want to know," Pearl mumbled and put a hand on Amethysts shoulder, pulling her away from **that place** ,

"I think I do." Amethyst pulls away from Pearl's grip. Her childish curiosity was, at times like these, irritating to the point of harm. Watching Amethyst trying to get in **there** , the crumbling of brickwork hitting the floor, it all got a little too much.

"Don't!" Pearl cries out as Amethyst tried to squeeze inside, she jumped slightly. "It's not safe…" Pearl regained control of herself,

Amethyst looked at Pearl for a moment, even in the darkness she could see the shorter girl's sudden concern.

Amethyst was about to reply when they heard a loud thud and the creaking of metal. They rushed back to the stairs and found Lapis hissing in pain at the bottom.

"Lapis!" Pearl dropped to her knees and skid to the cowering girl,

"P-Pearl!" She whimpered and wrapped her arms around the tall girl, burying her face into Pearl's bare shoulder, "s-something pushed me!"

"Or you could have fallen down," Amethyst commented and that earned her a scowl from Pearl.

"I'm here, nothing will happen to you…" Pearl said as she rubbed her back. The fencer watched as Lapis paled, her gaze solely focused on the crack in the wall, "let's get you out of here."

Pearl wrapped an arm around Lapis's shoulders and the other arm hooked under her legs, she felt Lapis grunt in pain, clearly she was holding back a yelp. It startled the dancer and she also paled once she felt something warm run down her arm.

Trying to stay calm, Pearl gently picked her up and rushed up the stairs. The tall girl assumed that Amethyst soon caught on once she seen the red blood on the floor.

"Amethyst, get a towel or sheet now." Pearl held Lapis close, an attempt to stop the bleeding. The short girl rushed around frantically, the mess she made could wait.  
Lapis still had her head buried into Pearl's neck and she whimpered quietly. 'Why is she bleeding?' The taller girl glimpsed at the large cuts on her arms and the gash she had in her thigh, she felt some blood soaking into her shirt and barely felt another big gash in her side. Some blood was dripping onto the floor and the last thing Pearl needed was blood stains on her couch.

"Just keep breathing." Pearl felt as if she said this before, "It'll be fine."

Lapis weakly nodded her head.


	11. Chapter 11 - The Truth

Chapter 11 - The Truth

After the initial surge of adrenalin, Pearl had Lapis comfortably sitting on the sheets of a covered couch. Or as comfortable as you could get when there was a gash in your thigh.

Pearl looked darkly at the jagged cuts, she instantly thought back to the bizarre situation in the shower. She closed her eyes and sighed shakily.

"P-Pearl?" She heard Lapis, her voice much more desperate and quivering.

Pearl opened her eyes and looked up...

Once again, blood was everywhere.

Lapis was crying, shivering and whimpering in pain. She was covered in burns, gashes and blood. Her back was demolished, wounds piled on each other so much that bone was visible. Every time she moved a blood curdling crack or snap was heard. Pearl could feel tears of her own well up in the corner of her eyes and she began erratically breathing, dropping the cloth from her badly shaking hands. She forced herself to look away from Lapis as her blood mingled with her tears. The room was leaking blood and a crackling fire was heard. The smell of metal was thick and overwhelming. Amethyst was gone and there was a gaping open basement door with a trail of blood leading to it.

Something inhuman was there... Waiting to tear them apart...

'Amethyst must be there!' Pearl tripped over her legs and landed face first into the hard wooden floorboards. She looked down to find a mangled leg, shattered bones piercing through her skin. 'I- I need to save them!' She whimpers and glances between the open basement and broken Lapis.

" **You can't save both of us!** " A monstrous voice said Pearl looked back and Lapis stopped crying, she was maniacally grinned. Her teeth sharp and her eyes non-existent. Pearl gasped and backed away, 'I knew she wasn't to be trusted!'

The demented monster in front of her began to cackle loudly. Pearl felt weak. Her leg was bleeding heavily and could not stand, her eyes looked round the room trying to find **anything** to protect herself with.

"But isn't it better like this?"

Pearl whimpered as the monster on the couch had perfectly mimicked her voice, her hand managed to find a metal pipe as she kept crawling away. It was surprisingly clean and polished.

"This is home."

There is went again. Pearl winced at the headache she got, the pipe in her hand deteriorated and became dented, it was rusted and had traces of dried blood along its tip.

With all her courage, Pearl spat back.

"This is not my home."

"Pearl?" She was brought back to reality, Lapis was looking down at her with concern, "You just blanked out there, didn't move or anything-" she cut herself off "are you okay? you're paler than me."

"N-no I'm fine…" Pearl breathed a shaky sigh. She looked round cautiously and seen nothing out the ordinary. Amethyst was hovering around the basement cautiously, the house and couch was clean, even the cloth was still in her hand. She focused back onto Lapis, the **Real** Lapis. "W-what happened to you?" Pearl cleared her throat and gently began cleaning the cut in Lapis's thigh, Amethyst watched on from a distance in concern.

"I don't know…" Lapis sighed, "It felt as if I was pushed."

"Look, I know you would be bruised after falling down the stairs but you're completely cut open!" Amethyst groaned

Lapis winced as Pearl dabbed more medical alcohol onto her wound before wrapping a bandage around it, the fencer did do it as skilfully as she could before starting on the other deep cut in Lapis's side.

"Amethyst, look around for anything that could have caused this," Pearl told her friend as strongly as she could.

Pearl heard Amethyst slowly return into the basement after a few grumblings, she calmed herself down and tried to clear her mind from that bizarre vision. **Now** she could focus solely on Lapis. 'The **REAL** Lapis. Who **WON'T** murder me.' Pearl told herself, but her hands still shook and she flinched at the slightest movement.

"I'm sorry," Lapis hissed as Pearl quickly finished the second cut,

"Y-you never done anything wrong," Pearl sighed and tightened the bandage again. Lapis gave her a concerned look, she lifted her hand and Pearl flinched.

"Are you..." Lapis retracted her hand and Pearl relaxed again, "Are you scared of me?"

"W-what?" She shivered, "w-why would I be? I saved you from a creepy basement, that really shouldn't have you in it unless you're put there for a reason... You were in a tank, somehow without drowning... Horrible things happened to you, you maybe seeking revenge..." Her hands fell to her sides and Pearl sighed, 'Why would I ever be scared of you? I'm scared of...' She glanced at the basement and then at Lapis, who was sadly looking down at her knees.  
It made Pearl feel sick to her stomach. Seeing Lapis in such a state, it was worse than the visions. 'I don't want her to get hurt anymore.' "But... Everything... It isn't your fault. I'm just..." Pearl grumbled and continued putting band-aids onto any random bruising or scrape she seen, even if it never needed one.

"But I made a visit into something bothersome…" Lapis said, Pearl could feel her gaze as she continued her work again,

"No you didn't, none of us were expecting this to happen." Pearl replied as she put down her near-empty box of plasters and looked up to Lapis that had begun crying. Gently Pearl wiped the tears away and softly smiled, "I said it before and I will always say it again. I'll make sure nothing will happen to you."

When Amethyst returned, she was graced with the odd sight of Pearl keeping Lapis from falling. It was almost like a dance. Pearl had danced with many before, even Amethyst, who she largely considered the worst dancing partner she ever danced with. But even then she was more co-ordinated than she was with Lapis, 'In short, there is no way that this situation can be likened to dancing in any form.' But Pearl just had to doubt herself on that, she had an arm supporting Lapis's back and another holding her arm steady, it was like she was prepared to dip her and then bring her up with a spin. She blushed lightly at the thought and glanced at Amethyst that was still curiously watching them.

"What's going on?" She asked,

"Lapis must have sprained her ankle due to the fall, but I'm no expert," Pearl concluded as she gently set Lapis down onto the couch again as gracefully as she could manage, "so did you find anything?"

"I found some sharp metal, looked like it was part of a pipe of something, Lapis must have fallen onto it…" Amethyst hesitated to continue and Pearl paled at the mention of a broken pipe, "we should really get a doctor to see her. I mean I know you're good with first aid and everything-"

"No!" Lapis snapped suddenly, surprising them, "I don't want to be seen by one of them!"

Pearl listened to Amethyst's insistences and Lapis's protests for a few exchanges. Wondering why Lapis would resist seeing a doctor, 'what type of experience did she go through with a doctor in an abandoned- oh, OH.' She felt stupid for not realising it sooner.

"You don't need to see one," Pearl looked down to Lapis, earning a sigh of relief and a loud groan from Amethyst.

"What is going on in this house?" She grunted. "a crack in the wall, mysterious bandage, mysterious accident, what is this? a horror film?! Next you're going to tell me that you aren't really a couple!"

Pearl sheepishly looked to Lapis and then back to her short friend. Feeling slightly embarrassed and guilty that she never told Amethyst sooner or even trusted her, Pearl stood up sighed.

"Well, let's start at the beginning…"

She never missed out a detail, everything from when she came to the house, to Vidalia and finally to Lapis. Amethyst listened closely despite looking like she never believed a word. It was the most serious Amethyst had been with listening to Pearl in what felt like forever.

"So, you two really did hide something unbelievable…" Amethyst groaned, Pearl watched her expression change from a slight frown to a concerned one, "I need to leave when Garnet gets here."

Pearl nodded as she also remembered that Garnet was to come down today. She sighed in relief knowing that out of everyone Garnet would find out the mystery of the basement. She was also legally permitted to have a gun, so that was reassuring. 'Despite never having to use it and she can't aim unless the target is an arm distance away.' But it was still reassuring.

"We'll have to tell her… But hey, we'll stay and sort that mess downstairs," Amethyst added a little hopefully,

"Thanks," Pearl replied, with a smile she added something on "that gives you plenty of time to talk to Vidalia."

Amethyst grinned at that.

"So…" Amethyst looked back to the living room, it was almost as if nothing happened. The only evidence of the event was the bandages Lapis had, but most of them were covered by her clothes.

"hm?" Pearl and Lapis turned to her as they drank another cup of tea,

"You don't have a lot of things, right Lapis?" Amethyst turned to the girl,

"N-no, I do have some clothes though," Lapis replied and clenched the necklace in her hand, "Why?"

"I'm gonna give you some stuff!" Amethyst proclaimed, "It'll be a welcome present!"

"Oh, thank you," Lapis smiled, "But you really don't need to worry about me."

"Why? is it because you have Pearl to worry over you?" Pearl spluttered as she drank her tea and blushed lightly with Lapis, she had almost forgotten their charade as a couple.

'Does she still believe that-?' Pearl looked at Amethysts sly grin 'she does!' Pearl then began to try and answer the question on why Amethyst was so dense, or perhaps she figured out that they weren't a couple and now she's going to torture them for it. The thought of the teasing made Pearl blush a little redder.

"Aww! you two are embarrassed!"

"Don't you have Vidalia to see?" Pearl snapped back, drinking more tea.

'Just. Tea. My saviour to awkward conversations.'

"Alright! Alright!" Amethyst chuckled, "I'll let you have some time alone with your girlfriend, I'll be back in a few hours!" She shut the door on her way out.

Pearl wanted a rest from Amethyst, but she never expected her to just leave so suddenly. She wondered that it was due to what happened this morning. Amethyst after all was an expert in hiding her true feelings and she must feel like the cause of Lapis getting hurt. 'I hope she's all right,' Pearl sighed.

"What do we do now?" Lapis asked, bringing Pearl back into reality.

The tall girl checked the time on her phone '10:00' flashed on the screen. She huffed at the possibility that all the clocks were broken as the only thing it done was show 10am or pm all the time, the thought died quickly as it became '10:01'.

"Is there anything you would like to do?" Pearl asked as she finished the last of her tea,

'My saviour of awkward conversations was gone in a gulp.'

"Honestly? I want to seal that crack somehow…" Lapis replied and Pearl couldn't help but agree,

"Well, Garnet and Amethyst can help with that in the evening," she then noticed Lapis's strange stare, it was aiming directly at her phone on the table.

"Can you… Teach me how to use it?" Lapis asked,

"The phone?" and the shorter girl nodded in reply. Pearl couldn't deny that expression.


	12. Chapter 12 - Investigation

Chapter 12 - Investigation

Teaching someone the ins and outs of a phone was not something she had ever expected doing. Pearl smiled at Lapis's enthusiasm, she was a quick learner. One thing led to another and now Lapis was able to use anything in the house, it was a good time waster as a knock on the door was heard soon after Lapis learned how a T.V. worked. Despite Pearl currently not having one.

Unlike with the hesitation last time, Pearl quickly stood up and approached the door with urgency 'The quicker she gets in, the quicker the hole is sealed,' she concluded. Pearl opened the door and found Garnet standing there. She was wearing her 'casual attire', Pearl personally never seen anything casual about it but the new leather jacket Garnet sported did make her seem less stiff. She was standing with one arm on her hip, a subtle indication that she was armed and that her gun was hidden under the before mentioned new jacket.

"Hello Pearl," Garnet said with a smile, "I came to visit for a day."

Pearl nodded and opened the door wider to let her inside, she noted Garnets look at Lapis,

"You must be Lapis," she stated,

"How do you?-" Lapis tried,

"Amethyst." Garnet answered, "she never told me you where injured though."

"It… was recent." Lapis sighed,

"I see..." Garnet hummed, "I'm Garnet, it's nice to meet you."

"Same here," Lapis smiled back.

That was when Pearl noticed Garnet look between her and Lapis and slowly started to smile, 'of course,' Pearl sighed, 'she's a romantic.'  
Garnet never asked anything about Lapis specifically, or her injuries. But if Amethyst contacted her then they where bound to get some relationship questions.

'Better get down to it then…' Pearl sighed, "Garnet we have a favour…"

Pearl clenched her hands in worry as Garnet got to work on the crack in the basement, the dancer would have went with her but she was not going to leave Lapis by herself again. Who knows what could happen and she didn't want that 'vision' or whatever to come true.

Lapis looked uncomfortably at the basement and Pearl blushed at how Lapis had wrapped her arms around her un-injured arm and leaned her chin on her shoulder.

"What is she doing?" Lapis asked as she continued to flinch at every sound coming from the dark basement.

"She's probably going to find something in… **There** … to cover the crack." Pearl gently held onto Lapis's hand reassuringly. "she'll be fine." 'I hope.'

The shorter girl huffed and developed a frown.

"What's wrong?" Pearl asked, 'It's obvious that **everything** is wrong.'

"Everything." Lapis replied bluntly, Pearl instinctively blushed. "You blush a lot..." Lapis smiled slightly. Pearls blush grew heavier and she looked away with a huff.

Suddenly a loud thud was heard in the basement, Pearl almost bolted to help Garnet but Lapis just froze.

Taking the other into consideration, Pearl turned and picked Lapis up into her arms. She felt the girl relax.

"I-I'm fine, you don't need to hold me you know?" Pearl heard Lapis as tried to chuckle, but the fencer had clear intentions on putting a barrier between the basement and Lapis.  
She stood up with Lapis cradled in her arms, and walked up the steps to her small bedroom. She then gently lowered them onto the bed, when she let go and seen that Lapis was blushing.

"I wanted to take you away from that basement." Pearl cleared her throat, she could feel the blush forming again on her cheeks.

Lapis sighed and nodded,

"You should also get more rest," Pearl gently pushed Lapis down onto the bed and covered her with a light blanket, "whilst you can that is..."

Lapis nodded her head slowly, "then... can you go find out what happened to Garnet?" she asked, "I'm worried."

Pearl nodded and grabbed her torch from the desk drawer, she also took the small metal key, 'Just in case.'

"Pearl," Lapis grabbed her attention before she went downstairs, "be careful."

She gave her a nod of acknowledgment.

Stepping down into the basement again, Pearl was certain nothing could happen to Lapis. She went through the hole again and discovered, on the far side of the room, some exposed wires and that Garnet was there wiring something.

"Garnet," Pearl approached, "what are you doing? What happened?"

"Let there be light," She simply replied and with a flick a hanging light revealed the strangely high ceiling. Having a light source and conserving batteries, Pearl turned her torch off and looked around the basement. She noted that the ceiling that had more strange metal pipes and wooden beams, most of the structure was broken and there was strange scorch marks running along the wood.

"Looks like some accident happened here at one point," Pearl commented, but it was still unnerving that the rooms she was in previously looked, for the most part, intact despite the possible fire, it would take a lot of work to either open it up or destroy it entirely. 'Why am I thinking about this?' Pearl grumbled, 'Just how many people lived in this house? Why didn't they do anything with it? I know! **Because the basement's a deathtrap!** '

"I think we need to explore the rooms thoroughly," Garnet snapped her out her thoughts. As a police officer, it was understandable that she wanted to investigate the matter. Pearl watched her quickly inspect the metal tables and surgical instruments.

"Your thoughts?" Pearl asked,

Garnet hummed, "Surgical equipment. These are not adequate settings for surgery and they look used, even though it's not recent. I know that there was never a hospital here at any moment in time, so if they performed surgery here… Well, that alone is a crime in my book." she pointed her thumb to herself and for a moment Pearl doubted she was even a police officer.

"Let's cover the hole for now." Pearl sighed and found a metal table nearby, "help me move it over."

Garnet gave her a blank look,

"What? You know we have to."

Garnet remained silent and crossed her arms,

"I know you want to 'investigate' and everything, but safety comes first-"

Garnet lifted her jacket to the side and Pearl glanced at the small gun at her hip,

"You're not a marksman, and I'm not impressed."

"I wouldn't say that," Garnet grinned, "I've been practicing."

Pearl groaned, "Fine, we'll leave it open for now... But you'd better seal it before you leave!"

They turned to walk up the stairs and turned off the lights. When Pearl resurfaced with Garnet she locked the panel behind her. Staring at it for a moment, Pearl considered following Opal's advice on putting something heavy on it. 'That's right... Opal...'

"We have to have a serious conversation with Opal once she gets back," Pearl tutted as she placed the metal key back into her jean pocket,

"I agree, but we cannot blame her." Garnet commented, "She never lived long in this house."

"But how in the world did she not notice a **hole** in the wall of a basement?"

"Only Opal could answer that..." Pearl sighed at Garnets response, but the police officer fixed her shades and continued speaking, "It could be because she forgot, or perhaps she never even went into the basement. Not everyone has the guts to go into a dark cellar like you."

Pearl sighed, "Stupid you mean."

Garnet gave her a disapproving look, "then, if you weren't stupid you would never have saved Lapis." Pearl blushed slightly from the compliment, "and if you never saved Lapis, she would still be living in a nightmare and you would never be happy."

The dancer couldn't look at the police woman. She could feel that her face was bright red, she had a small smile on her face and her hands were clasped together.

With that out the way, Pearl and Garnet spent a much needed moment appreciating each others company and began chatting about different things. Mostly Steven and Greg.

"You should have seen him. He's already saying things," Garnet said, "he said my name the other day as well as Amethysts."

"That's wonderful," Pearl commented, "I take it he's walking?"

"More like running," Garnet grinned, "He'll turn three soon."

Pearl's smile dropped slightly, this was picked up by her possibly psychic friend,

"Everything will be fine Pearl. But if there is anything we can do, just say so." Garnet asked,

"Thank you..." Pearl replied. "but I'll be fine,"

When Amethyst came in through the door, Pearl realised how long they spent chatting. Excusing herself for a moment (and turning away in distaste as Amethyst ate a packet of those 'Chaps' or whatever they where called,) she went up the stairs to check Lapis.

Pearl entered to find Lapis partly uncovered by the blanket and her breathing wasn't uniform, she would shiver and pant at the same time. Fearing an infection, Pearl walked up to her and sat next to her on the bed, she could faintly hear Lapis mutter her name.

When Pearl brought a hand to Lapis's forehead, the shorter girl bolted awake. This startled Pearl and she quickly removed her hand and jumped back, Lapis blushed furiously as she looked at Pearl.

"Um…" Lapis began,

"Were you having a nightmare?" Pearl asked in confusion,

"N-no…" Pearl knew instantly she was lying and quickly put a hand onto Lapis's forehead once again, earning a blush and a slight tenseness. Her temperature was normal, despite her strangeness.

Pearl stood up and slowly opened the blinds again, she turned to Lapis who had calmed down from her strange rest and raised an eyebrow as the girl stood up with no assistance.

"How are you standing?" Pearl asked,

"With my legs…" Lapis gave her a small smile,

"You know what I mean Lapis."

"Well… I uh… got better?" Pearl gave her a dubious look, "honestly don't ask me, I don't know either…" Lapis sighed as she limped slowly towards the stairs.  
Pearl carefully supported her and ignored the confused looks of Garnet and Amethyst. The dancer considered herself fortunate that they never asked about it, after all, it was obvious why they were concerned about other things.

"So what are we going to do about the basement?" Amethyst asked bluntly, Pearl could feel Lapis gently hold her hand at that.

"We need to uncover it," Garnet stated, "there could be anything down there, others trapped, illegal activity, information on Lapis and what happened…"

Lapis wasn't pleased by that and Pearl knew it, the girl was scowling and her grip got tighter. She stayed silent however, she must have known how important this was and that it was necessary.

"We can talk to Opal once she gets back," Pearl added, "she must have some sort of information, or at the very least help."

"Why not get your police buddies to help?" Amethyst asked Garnet,

"No," she simply replied and that was the end of that.

"Well, on a side-note…" Amethyst smirked, "I met your ghost!"


	13. Chapter 13 - The Ghost

Chapter 13 - The Ghost

Pearl couldn't believe it, that person in the basement lived right in Beach City! Or at least close enough to the city that it was in walking distance. A small shack that was falling apart separated her from the world.

"Her name is Peridot," Amethyst said as they walked up to the house. Pearl had come along after demanding quite adamantly to go and Garnet graciously stayed with Lapis as to keep her safe, or at least keep an eye on her.  
Lapis, of course, was not happy.

But Pearl was not really too concerned about Lapis. Whoever this 'Peridot' was, had broken in to her house and that is definitely against the law. Pearl was determined to get some insight on the basement and Lapis but she never liked it by the minute.

Amethyst walked up to the front door and loudly knocked, "Hey Peri!" Amethyst called in,

"NO ONE'S HERE!" A muffled voice called back,

"It's me Amethyst!" She called back again, it was rather surprising how quickly the door swung open. Pearl never expected it to actually be the girl, Amethyst wasn't the most reliable of people and she may have been mistaken. Yet there she was, the exact girl in the basement.

Pearl had to face all her compulsions to strangle the girl before her. She didn't know why she got so angry, perhaps it was because she left Lapis in the basement, perhaps it was because of something more...

"You're Pearl," The same nasally voice stated,

"You're Peridot," She replied,

"What?" Peridot gasped, "How do you know me?"

"Take a guess," Pearl growled and was irritatingly pushed back by Amethyst. It never took a genius to see the attraction Amethyst had to Peridot and the reverse, it almost made Pearl not want to interrogate Peridot, almost…

"So, you two know each other!" Amethyst commented, "I bet you know why Pearl is here. Genius."

Pearl almost groaned at Amethysts attempts at flirting, 'obviously it wouldn't-' Peridot blushed and giggled strangely, 'Never mind, it did.'

"Come in!" Peridot almost ordered as she led the both of them into the old house, Pearl looked round and noticed the large amount of electronics laying around as well as a couch and T.V. Pearl noticed the DVD cases laying around and could tell the box art of some sort of TV Show.

"As great and lovable as Peridot is!" The short girl proudly began with a slight chuckle from Amethyst, "I have no clue as to why Pearl is here!"

Amethyst was about to say something but Pearl quickly cut in.

"How do you know me?" She questioned,

Peridot went pale and hesitated, "I don't?" 'Oh, as if I'll believe that,' Pearl rolled her eyes.

She needed answers. Now.

"You were in my basement," Pearl narrowed her eyes,

Peridot cracked and blankly stared with a shocked expression. Suddenly she bolted for the door, Pearl being quicker managed to catch her with a single arm and held Peridot up by the collar of her shirt. She pushed her to the wall and the shorter girl desperately clawed at her hand.

"What were you doing there?" Pearl growled,

"I don't know what you're on about!" Peridot squeaked,

"You'd better not lie to me!" Pearl gritted her teeth,

"Pearl! Stop!" Amethyst tried to pull the taller girl away but Pearl pushed her with her free arm, Amethyst fell backwards and frowned at her failed attempt at a rescue.

"What were you doing there?" Pearl repeated,

"I can't tell you!" Peridot replied,

"Why?" Pearl attempted to get more information but the front door opened again and a familiar voice entered the house.

"That's enough Pearl,"

Pearl turned to see Garnet, her anger vanished quickly and she slowly put Peridot down. She watched as the short girl ran behind Amethyst for protection. Pearl was almost apologetic for her actions. Amethyst gave her a nasty scowl and softly led Peridot away. But she couldn't be concerned with those two, there was other things flooding Pearl's mind.

"Why are you here?" Pearl asked Garnet with concern, "Is she-"

"She's fine. She sent me here because she knew you would need some help." Garnet explained

Pearl blushed a little, that did sound just like Lapis. She watched the police officer walk by her. She was frowning under her shades, Pearl knew that she was in the wrong. 'What a way to greet someone...' Pearl sighed, 'Well done Pearl... Well done.'

Pearl looked back to them, sitting round a couch, politely asking Peridot questions. 'She needs to be interrogated!' The tall girl frowned and clenched her hands into fists angrily. Peridot was like a type of chihuahua, it was tiny but would proudly look at others. Of course it was from behind Amethyst. 'Animals need to be trained.'  
She slowly breathed out, 'I need to calm down... Let's see what I can learn about her from her house instead... Now that I'm no longer trusted to have a decent conversation.'

Pearl looked round again, it really was a mess.  
But one thing that caught her eye was a poster that was put onto a messy pile of papers she never cared to read. The poster was old and rather large, in contrast to the new papers of graphs for some sort of show, it was out of place. Pearl picked the poster up and frowned at her discovery.  
It was the same symbol she found in the basement, four diamonds in one... The edges were singed and burnt and there was questionable dark brown stains on the back of the relatively plain poster. 'Coffee stains?' she hummed, 'or is it dried blood?' Once upon a time Pearl would have never assumed it to be blood, but with the amount of the red liquid that she has encountered it might as well be blood.

A pang of pain went through her temples and she dropped the poster onto the table. Her head pounded as if she was punched in the face then thrown through several walls.

"Be careful!" She heard Peridot yelp at her, "that's a classic motivational booster!"

'Motivation builder?' Pearl huffed, 'It should have burned in whatever fire it came from.' She paused, something was strange and she couldn't understand what it was.

"Fine, I'll leave it alone." Pearl turned her back on it and glanced at the couch everyone was at. The small technician looked at Pearl for a moment and instantly paled. A pang of guilt went through the dancer.

Pearl was about to head out the house but she was overcome with a sense of deja vu, the expression on Peridot was something she had seen before on numerous people, but thinking too much about it caused her head to hurt even more and she just knew that she would begin to see things again. The fencer was right by the exit when Garnet called out to her.

"Pearl, come over here." and not wanting to make another hassle, Pearl cautiously walking up to them.

"You need to hear this," Garnet said to her, she looked back to Peridot and signalled for her to continue,

"I was doing a routine check of equipment," Peridot began, "I found a tank. I investigated the area and discovered that it was sealed off due to water leakage and strange electrical malfunctions. I accidentally turned on a machine that opened the tank slightly and jumped when she actually spoke to me."

"'She' as in Lapis?" Amethyst asked,

"I suppose that's also her name," Peridot shrugged her shoulders, 'you **suppose**?' Pearl clenched her fists and bit her tongue.

"Did you attempt to get her out of there?" Garnet asked,

"W-well, no," Peridot clenched her hands, trying to hide the fact that she was nervous,

"Why?" Amethyst asked gently as she carefully put a hand on Peridots shoulder,

"Look, that section was sealed off, there wasn't supposed to be anything there!" she replied with a huff, "I didn't know why the subject was left behind! she could have killed me or done something even worse!"

Garnet hummed, "I guess that's understandable."

"Thank you," Peridot huffed trying to hide from Pearls dark gaze,

"Subject? Left behind?" Pearl huffed, 'basic questions first Pearl,' "So, why did you call me? On the phone?"

Peridot jumped, "H-how do you know it was me?"

At that Garnet gave a look to Pearl, the **'we're having a word later'** look, "I traced the number," she stated, trying to seem relaxed.

"Right…" the possible 'technician' flinched,

"So why did you call Pearl? how did you get her number?" Amethyst asked, again calming her down,

"Well, at first I ran away from the subject. I found myself going through the wrong crack in the wall and I ended up in a basement." Amethyst snickered at that, "This is not a laughing matter!" Peridot blushed, "anyway, I explored a little, found some stairs and went up them."

"Was that when you found Pearl?" Garnet asked,

"No, honestly I never thought she was in, it was that quiet." Peridot remarked, 'even she found the house strange,' Pearl internally groaned, "I found a mobile and unlocked it after trying for about an hour, then I noted down her number in my phone, before you ask, I was thinking I could get someone else to attend to the tank situation."

Garnet turned to Pearl, "this was the day you moved in correct?"

Pearl nodded, "I never left the house though…" she gasped, suddenly remembering her time-skip that she could not explain,

"What is it?" Garnet asked, noticing her shock,

"well, something Did happen." Pearl started, "I skipped roughly two or so hours and can't remember how."

"What do you mean by 'skipped two hours'?" Amethyst asked with a huff,

"I was going to explore the basement at around 8:00, but something stopped me, I heard a scream in the bathroom. When I checked I found nothing there and when I checked my clock it was around 10:00."

Everyone stared awkwardly at each other, till Pearl broke the silence and took their attention away from her experience.

"Tell me more about your thoughts on the machinery in the basement," she asked Peridot that seemingly beamed at the question,

"I'm glad you asked!" She grinned, Pearl already wanted to shut her up, "The machinery is very old." she stopped,

"How old?" Pearl asked,

"Like, a hundred or two hundred years... No that's not accurate." 'certainly not,' Pearl rolled her eyes, "I think around five hundred years, that's when everything began after all." Pearl looked at her in disbelief,

"That's impossible." Pearl huffed,

"For you it is, but for us... Well. Let's just say that you wouldn't understand the importance of our history." Peridot crossed her arms.

"What was the machines used for?" Amethyst asked, Pearl could see the doubt on her face.

"Secret," Peridot replied. "I can't tell you." Pearl clenched her fists and was about to attempt at intimidating her again when Amethyst glared at her momentarily before turning back to the hooded girl.

"Aw come on... Even for me?" Amethyst grinned and put her hand onto the other girls hand,

Peridot blushed then sighed in defeat, "... Testing."

Pearl could feel the tension in the air.

"You… Tested regular people?" Amethyst looked away, hiding her face in her long hair,

"What? No!" Peridot replied,

"what do you mean by that?" Garnet asked,

"Well umm..." Peridot was sweating and she fidgeted non-stop, "we aren't 'normal' as you may have guessed. You see. We were **made.** Like a human would make an artificial intelligence."

Everyone went silent.

Pearl never believed it, Lapis was real, she was warm, robots can't be warm.

"You can't be serious," Pearl gasped.

The short 'girl' cursed, "I said too much... Um... Try and forget, like a regular person would!" She laughed a little awkwardly, "That was a joke." she then deadpanned, "But seriously, forget. It's better not knowing."

Pearl clenched her teeth and fists, Peridot instantly squeaked.

"You're coming with us, back into that basement and you will explain yourself." Pearl growled. "In **full** detail."

So that's how Pearl got into this situation. They had taken Peridot to the basement in her house, ignoring Lapis that was sitting on the couch reading a book. Pearl glanced at her as she walked by, she could see Lapis was also ignoring them purposely.

Soon everyone had squeezed through the crack in the wall, 'back here again,' Pearl sighed at the thought, having some power was nice ever since Garnet fixed the wiring.

"Why am I here exactly?" Peridot mumbles,

"Explain," Pearl pushed the document with the symbol into her hands, "your 'motivational booster' also had this."

Peridot grunted and then looked at it, "This is the company logo."

"The company?" Pearl glares at her,

"I shouldn't be-"

"Explain or you will never leave this place again." Pearl glared daggers at her.

"The company of the Diamonds!" Peridot squeaked, "This is an old logo though! one of the diamonds is missing due to a disastrous event hundreds of years ago!"

"How is Lapis in that tank? and for how long? this place was abandoned hundreds of years ago," Pearl huffed. She didn't mean to be so aggressive, but she needed answers.

She felt a hand touch her shoulder, "Let us take over," Garnet stepped in and a sigh of relief was heard from Peridot, "Lapis needs you." Pearl blushed lightly, but with a nod she left, it was for the best. She returned upstairs to find Lapis still sitting on the couch, her dress pooling over her legs neatly.

"Hello," Lapis smiled slightly as Pearl joined her on the couch,

"I'm back," Pearl replied,

"So, that's her… Shorter than I remember." Lapis sighed as she closed the book and placed it beside her.

"Her name is Peridot…" Pearl sighed, her nasally voice echoed in her head 'She's just like a machine!'

"What's wrong?"

Pearl turns to Lapis and nearly inspects her by how much she's staring at her,

"Pearl?" Lapis blushed ever so slightly,

"How are your injuries?" The fencer asked, pulling herself back, but still suspicious.

"They ache, but I can manage walking a little…" Lapis replied, "Pearl, you're not yourself, what's wrong?"

She huffed, 'better tell her,' "Peridot said that you are like a machine, created to fulfil a purpose."

Lapis went silent at that, "Do you think I'm a machine?"

Pearl looked back at her, "I don't know."


	14. Chapter 14- Experiment Title - Fusion

Chapter 14: Experiment Title - "Fusion"

Pearl regretted her choice of words with Lapis, now they were awkwardly staring at each other.

"I-I see…" Lapis looks like she's going to cry. She attempts to stand but tumbled over herself.

"Wait! Lapis!" Pearl stands and catches her just in time, "I'm sorry…"

"No… I'm sorry," Lapis mumbles back, "I'm just some sort of creation, I'm not real…"

"But you are…" Pearl replies with a little blush as she gently picks Lapis up and places her onto the couch again, "You're real to me."

Lapis's tears threaten to fall. "But-"

"Never question your existence…" Pearl cuts her off, wiping a tear from her eye. Earning a little blush from the other. "I was wrong before, so forget I said anything." She hastily adds on with a blush.

They were sitting side by side again, Lapis had reopened her book a few minutes ago. Pearl hummed, it was a good tactic for avoiding awkward silences. Almost as good as tea.

"What are you reading?" Pearl asked, she already seen the cover of it but she wanted to at least start a nice conversation for once.

"It has goldfish in it." Lapis replied bluntly, Pearl almost burst in laughter.

"Do you like goldfish?" Pearl asked after a short recovery,

"They're pretty cute," The shorter girl replied, "I'm mostly learning about currents and water environments now though."

"Like the sea?"

"Yeah," Lapis beamed,

Pearl smiled to herself, she knew Lapis was too busy learning the wonders of the world and couldn't see her face. But it was nice to be so passionate about something despite not experiencing it.

"Then, when everything in that basement is over we can go a walk on the beach... Near the sea."

She felt the girl move slightly, "You mean it?" and after a quick nod she shifted again, "I would really like that."

Sitting back and relaxing a little longer, Pearl listened to the waves hitting the shore and lazily closed her eyes for a rest.

That is until the basement creaked and some screams were heard, mostly from Peridot.

All the panic buttons were triggered and Pearl jumped from the couch. She didn't really mind that it was Peridot's scream that she heard the clearest, in fact, if it was only Peridot down there she would have closed off the basement by now and sealed the entrance. But Garnet and Amethyst were also down there and that was very concerning.

They looked ominously at the opening,

"What… What was that?" Lapis asked in disbelief,

Pearl stood and peered over the side, it was dark like always, even if the lights were on. A chill went through her and she shivered slightly.

"Do I have to?" 'of course I have to,' she scolded herself mentally,

"I don't want you to… But you have to." Lapis replied, "can you take me with you?"

Pearl looked at her, one eyebrow raised, "No."

"Please?"

"What- Lazuli, you need to rest! you're cut open!"

"You are too!" She points to the wound still covered in a bandage,

"You can't walk!"

"I can! you can't go through the hole in the wall."

"Wha?- I can!" Pearl began to get flustered,

"Nope." Lapis blankly stared at her, "not without me." and Pearl groaned.

With little effort, Pearl lifted Lapis into her arms and walked slowly down into the basement.

"I'm carrying you there, it'll be quicker…" Pearl glanced down at Lapis, she seen confidence, but by the way she clutched at her sleeve was a different story. "You're certain?"

"Yes," Lapis replied. "It's not so bad with the lights on."

Pearl nodded at the remark and walked towards the crack in the wall, looking through it was futile as there was nothing on the other side.

She was about to carefully drop Lapis till the lights started to flicker wildly, she jumped back at the wall cracked further, a dust cloud formed and Pearl could hear the cracking of bricks and faint rumblings. They coughed a little as the cloud dispersed and when they could see again the hole was wide enough to simply walk through.

"H-how convenient!" Pearl flustered as she stepped quickly through to the next room with Lapis, trying hard not to think about what just happened. 'Garnet, Amethyst and even Peridot take priority. I just hope we're not buried alive.'

Everything was lightly lit up again as the flashing lights ceased, Pearl grimaced as she walked through a puddle of water. Looking up in curiosity as to what caused it revealed to be a busted pipe, some relief washed over her as she continued to explore and try to find the others.

 **drip, drip, drip,** Water was dripping everywhere. The sound drove the tall girl insane and at one point Pearl would have panicked that it would flood the basement, then she remembered that she would do anything to forget about this area.

"Are you alright?" Pearl asked as Lapis shivered slightly, she wondered if she was cold. 'Can she even get cold?' Pearl grumbled, 'Of course she can! What kind of question is that?'

"I'm fine, let's find them and go."

Pearl hummed in agreement and continued walking through the area, getting closer and closer to the tank.

They ignored the symbol on the wall and most of the furnishings. But Pearl did note that the metal tables and desks where uncovered, old documents and papers where scattered about, littering the floor.

"They made quite a mess…" Pearl lamented,

Lapis nodded her head slightly.

Once the eerie glow of the tank was in sight, Pearl seen her friends huddled around a table. Yet another victim to their messy pilfering. They never noticed her get behind them.

"What happened?" Pearl asked as she sat Lapis down onto one of the wooden desks opposite to them, Peridot yelled in surprise and startled the other two.

"P-Pearl?" Amethyst panted, "you're gonna give someone a heart attack!"

"We heard a scream," Lapis ignored the remark,

"Not to worry." Garnet smirked and looked at Peridot, "someone had a fright, that was all."

"It was unfair and you know it!" Peridot gritted her teeth,

"It was so funny!" Amethyst laughed and Peridot blushed,

"Why are you here?" Amethyst looked to Lapis after she calmed down, "you literally can't walk."

"I can! and I wanted to go so I went." Lapis replied bluntly, earning a smirk from Amethyst,

'great, now Amethyst is going to be more annoying than usual.' Pearl sighed,

"So, discover anything?" Pearl asked Garnet,

"They abandoned this place due to water leakages and strange electrical events, so Peridot's story was right." Garnet said, Pearl momentarily seen Peridot smirk in the background, she gestured a lot with her hands, as if trying to say **'I told you so.'** "Lapis was also a secret project, but that's all we know…"

"Not very helpful," Peridot remarked, still in a good mood "but with the lack of readable documentation it's understandable to have misinformation." Pearl grumbled at Peridots arrogant display, she smirked when the short technician jumped at the sound of a drop of water.

Pearl had a bad feeling about the place. Certainly it was extremely creepy, an old research base that made people for stuff and then tested on them, but the feeling she had was more than the atmosphere. It was as if something was staring at her from the darkness. She felt every compulsion to just run and not look back. But just when it could not get any worse...

Everyone jumped at the sound of metal being scraped along one of the walls,

"W-What was that?" Peridot held onto Amethyst's arm,

"It came from there," Amethyst grumbled and pushed Peridot protectively behind her, glaring at the dark hallway behind the tank,

"T-that's where I came from originally!" Peridot gasped, "No one could have discovered this place! unless it was another Peridot but still!"

"Another Peridot?" Lapis doubt evident on her face,

"Siblings that you don't want to talk about?" Amethyst grinned,

"In a way, we're clones after all," Peridot replied, "I mean we don't look exactly similar or even behave similarly but we're mass produced…"

"We'll talk about this later," Garnet shifted towards the opening.

They stared at the small dark passage way.

Pearl was expecting to see another short girl with triangular hair and talking strangely into a phone. They collectively held their breath as they heard something shift closer.  
They could barely see a figure, it looked like a girl so that was reassuring.

"Come out!" Garnet authoritatively ordered, holding her badge in one hand as crept towards the figure.

But what replied wasn't human.

A monster-like scream was heard, the same type of scream Pearl heard in the bathroom, except louder. The screech had them covering their ears and knees shake as they felt the ground rumble as the lowest note soon after.  
The figure disappeared and an unrecognisable mass crawled out…

It wore a hospital gown, 'more like an asylum gown with the amount of buckles it had'. Despite the gown already being connotated with dread, this gown was torn and shredded, fresh blood speckled across it. Making it adequate nightmare fuel. The monster had hands and legs that would move simultaneously and with no purpose. It had no head or any other features, it was like they ripped several people apart and then sown them together again to make one abomination.  
Pearl frowned in disgust when that was exactly what happened to make this thing.

The monster came closer and more was visible. The primary arm on it's left held a scalpel that was unsettlingly covered in blood.  
Everyone slowly stepped back and held their breaths, the monster was shuffling about and walked slowly with no intentions.

"T-that's the project we where working on! It's experiment title was 'fusion'!" Peridot whisper screamed to the others, "It must have gotten loose!"

" **'Fusion?'** You sowed people together?!" Pearl gritted her teeth as she inched back towards Lapis that was stuck in place on a table.

"They were clones! it doesn't count!"

"OH You!" Pearl lost control of her voice slightly and the whimpering of the monster turned into a groan and it charged for the closest person.

Pearl gasped when it was Lapis.

Lapis hyperventilated as it came closer, she fell off the edge of the table and stared up to the sharp glint of the weapon in the monster's hand. Sure it wasn't much, but the scalpel wasn't the thing that was on her mind.  
Pearl rushed towards them and the others took their chance to escape… Well… One of them did, the other two ran toward the monster armed with a metal beam and bare fists. Pearl would question Garnet later about not using her gun, that is if there **will** be a later.

The monster lifted it's weapon and Lapis let out a breath as the blade hit it's target.

The experiment soon lost balance due to it's terrible proportions and Pearl took a chance to whimper at the metal lodged in her shoulder blade. With a grunt she pulled it and fell beside Lapis. She swore that there was something on that scalpel that was vaguely familiar… 'Tranquilliser?' Pearl shuddered at the possibility.

Slowly losing consciousness, Pearl watched the efforts of those around her. She never expected Lapis to stand so confidently without a slight limp…

'Why does it feel so cold?'


	15. Chapter 15 - Healing

Chapter 15: Healing

When the world went dark, Pearl was standing there alone. She remembered the smell of metal and watched the flames rise into the sky. No longer would the guards beat her to a pulp and call her insignificant. She had bested them.

A figure walked up behind her, taking a sharp metal rod that she used as a Spear, she twirled and pointed the tip to the figures throat. She seen a woman in a white dress, with large pink curls standing before her. Someone she had seen and heard of before.

"I'm Rose," She said, "You're Pearl right?"

—

Waking up was painful, tears stung her eyes and her wounds faintly pulsed in pain, but otherwise the tranquillisers effect was gone and she could think clearly again. Looking at her surroundings, Pearl found herself in Lapis's arms and watched at the walked slowly down the hallways.

"You're awake!" Lapis gasped, "Are you okay? does it hurt? I was so worried!"

"That's enough," Garnet came over and calmed Lapis down,

"I fainted, didn't I?" Pearl sighed,

"Obviously!" Amethyst looked like she had been crying, "you lost so much blood!"

"I did?" Pearl couldn't stop herself, obviously the effects of the tranquilliser were still there,

"Look," Peridot begins, "I know you clods have a very good excuse of waiting about, but LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!"

"Aww, you scared Peri?" Amethyst chuckled, after she sniffed and rubbed her eyes,

"N-no! I'm cautious of my well being!" She huffs.

"We'll tell you everything when we're out of here," Garnet said to Pearl with a warm smile, "don't fall asleep on us again."

"Please don't," Peridot added, "Amethyst wouldn't stop crying."

"Hey!" The girl replied with a huff and a red face. Pearl smiled at the silliness.

It was rather light-hearted as they all returned to the crack in the wall. It felt as if they had bested a monster and were walking back victoriously, but Pearl still had a gut feeling that it wasn't over.

"It's bigger…" Amethyst commented as she walked through the hole in the wall with no troubles,

"I made it bigger," Lapis replied bluntly and Amethyst flinched a little away from her, Pearl watched them curiously but also in concern.

"Ri-ight…"

When everyone was in the original basement Peridot finally sighs in relief. Pearl could also hear Garnet moving something heavy, the creaking of metal suggested it was the same table Pearl pointed out to her. 'Finally, it's closed...' Pearl sighed and looked over Lapis's shoulder to see the now sealed hole.

"Finally." Peridot looks round the room,

"You're comfortable in this room? really?" Amethyst crossed her arms,

"Yes, for many reasons. To name a few, there is a lot of improvements that can be made here, it's better than being stuck with an experiment and no windows!"

"No windows? what did they ever do to you?" Amethyst chuckled,

"It's complicated!" Peridot barks back and was the last to follow everyone back up the stairs.

The sky was already dark, fortunately the clock never said '10:00' like it always does and instead shown the time to be roughly 12:00. 'this is just perfect,' Pearl groaned to herself and was sat down onto the couch carefully by Lapis.

"I need to get back," Peridot replies blankly as she checks the clock,

Not in any mood to ask more questions to the rambler, everyone nodded their heads and watched her leave. No one stopped Amethyst as she ran after Peridot to politely escort her home. Although everyone could tell she wanted to make sure Peridot was safe, 'or she wanted to escape this house.'

"We need to tend to that wound of yours." Garnet stated matter of factly,

"It's fine." Pearl rubs her eyes, the tranquilliser was only now wearing away and the pain was coming back slowly,

"No it's not," Lapis huffs, Pearl stared at her. She was covered in blood, her shirt was practically soaked in it. "Before you ask, yes and no, this blood is yours as well as that fusions."

They awkwardly went silent.

"I'll go get the bandages, in the bathroom…" Garnet looks over to Pearl who nods in response.

As Garnet momentarily left, Pearl and Lapis awkwardly stared at each other.

"How are your injuries?" Pearl asked, it must have surprised Lapis as her eyes grew slightly larger,

"I can walk," Lapis replied, "being a secret project has it's advantages."

"Then, that fusion, was it?..." Pearl asked,

"Won't ever bother us, or be hurt, again." Lapis replied a little sadly, "It's body is already gone, another thing about being an experiment I suppose… You just crumble to dust…"

"Can you stop saying that," Pearl hissed as the pain suddenly bit back with a vengeance,

"What?"

"Project this, experiment that." Pearl explained, "You're you, there is no-one like you and even if there was, as Peridot said, you would be individuals."

Lapis just looked at Pearl blankly. 'Making people speechless must be a habit.' Pearl grumbled to herself, 'Perhaps it's because I talk too much.'

Soon Garnet came back with some medical alcohol, cotton, bandages and a needle with string.

"I'll take over," She stated, "Why don't you get a change of clothes and have a shower Lapis."

The girl nodded and walked to the bathroom after gathering some clean clothes. Only when the door closed and the shower began did Pearl start talking,

"What are you planning on doing with that needle Garnet?"

"I'm going to suture your wounds with it." Garnet stated,

"But-"

"I worked in the accident and emergency department before."

The dancer blinked, "did you?"

"I remember all the procedures, so I must have."

That really wasn't giving Pearl any confidence. Never the less, she removed her blood soaked shirt and Garnet began cleaning out her wound. Pearl hissed as the alcohol aggravated the pain even more, she had to hug a pillow from the couch before they continued. She cringed at the state of her couch, 'explaining how there is bloodstains on my couch is not something I ever want to do.'

Pearl anxiously waited for the sterilising process of the needle before they continued and the fact that Lapis had left the bathroom by now was also unfortunate.

Lapis sat in front of Pearl and held her hand that was clawing at the pillow. Her eyes were aimed at Garnet running the needle through the flame of a lighter, she was slightly nervous and yet curious. 'It really was easy to read Lapis's expression,' Pearl looked at her from her pillow, 'slight frown and wide eyes for worry, yet a slight head tilt to show she was curious... It's quite cute.' The tall girl clenched the pillow tighter when she remembered what **'she'** was like, **'she'** always had compassionate eyes and loved everything she seen and her smile was infectious.  
But she was no longer the bright light in Pearl's life, she **was** an infection, as sad as it sounds and the more the dancer thinks about her, the more ill she becomes.

"What is Garnet doing?" Lapis asked finally and Pearl returned back to reality,

"Disinfecting the needle." Pearl forced out as her wound pulsed again, she seen Lapis go pale slightly,

"But, why?" She asked nearly desperately, holding onto Pearl tighter,

"I need to close Pearl's wound," Garnet replied as she finally put the lighter down and effortlessly threaded the threat, already pre-soaked in alcohol, though the needle.

"How many stitches?" Pearl asked as Garnet returned to her back,

"Two."

Despite as easy as it sounded, they had limited equipment and worked with no anaesthetic.  
Pearl bit down on to the cushion as Garnet finished the first stitching and then the second. She shuddered as the bandage was finally placed. Pearl was relieved that the wound in her arm healed nicely, she counted herself extremely lucky that it wouldn't leave any scar. Despite how strange it seemed.  
After a quick change, she returned to find Lapis and Garnet talking.

"What about Amethyst?" Lapis asked,

"She won't be coming back tonight," Garnet grinned, Pearl sighed as she connected the dots. 'I'm not sharp like I used to be,'

"I can sleep on the couch," Garnet said, "You look after Pearl, Lapis."

"Right," she replied and gently led Pearl to the bedroom. The dancer was too tired to talk or protest.

So the second night began. Amethyst texted back saying that she was staying over at Peridot's, just like Garnet predicted. 'Don't have to worry about her' Pearl thought.  
They lay down next to each other and Lapis quickly fell asleep after holding onto her hand.  
Pearl soon followed and closed her eyes, falling asleep as she listened to the waves of the sea and focused on Lapis's warm hand clasping hers.

The dream contained only destruction, fire and metal. She looked down at her hands, stained in blood and clasping a long blade in one hand and a long, sharp, steel pole in the other. She felt herself smiling as she plunged the point into the one that beat her.

"P-Please... Stop..." The voice spluttered, Pearl could hear them continue to choke on their own blood. She twisted the sharp pipe jabbed into their chest and they let out a scream. Begging her to stop, pleading to let them go.

"Stop?" She grinned, "You want **me** to stop?" Pearl dug the pipe deeper. "What about when **I** wanted you to stop?"

The voice began to choke out their apologies and the tall girl grimaced. She twisted the pipe further, yanking it only slightly.

"Look at you." Pearl laughed at their slow demise, "bested by **me** , **Pearl**."

In one swift movement she yanked the pipe completely out and blood entered her victims lungs, drowning them.

" **You will never forget me...** "

Pearl woke up in cold sweat. She glanced at her shaking hands wearily, 'Just a dream. It's just a dream!' Taking her phone out, she seen a flashing '7:30' greet her watery eyes, with a huff Pearl rubbed them and slowly sat up. She had forgotten that Lapis was lying beside her and jumped when she felt movement. It was so dramatic that she fell off the bed in the least elegant was possible.

"Are you alright?" Lapis quickly looked down to her,

"N-never better!" Pearl sprang back up, Lapis gave her a judging look but Pearl ignored it and excused herself.

Grabbing a towel and some fresh clothes, Pearl ventured downstairs and found Garnet waking up. This gave her an excellent opportunity in seeing her friend's heterochromatic eyes before she covered them with her signature shades.

"Good morning," Pearl said as she walked by,

"Morning," Garnet replied before Pearl closed herself into the bathroom, sighing as she stepped into the shower and feel her muscles relax. She wondered if she was losing a grip on reality, if everything was just a terrible dream. But the wound on her back brought her back into the 'real world' something that she never understood, it was painful, thankfully not cripplingly so.

When Pearl stepped back into the living room she found Garnet and Lapis talking about the police force of all things.

"Sounds scary…" Lapis wrapped her arms around herself, "but I guess it's not so bad if you're one of them." Garnet smiled at that.

The fencer never knew what came over her, all she could remember was flashbacks to that monster and that bizarre dream of meeting Rose and **killing someone**.

"Pearl?" Lapis looked at her worryingly,

"How can you two be talking so casually? As if nothing happened last night?" Pearl's words seemed to bite Lapis as she flinched and began staring anywhere other than Pearl.

"Pearl-"

"What even happened last night? What was that thing?!" Her breathing became erratic and her voice was quavering, the shock setting in as her hands began to shake.

"Calm down… Don't think about it…" Garnet said softly, slowly approaching and stretched out her hand.

Pearl shifted away from her, "don't think about it?" she repeated it more loudly, "don't think about it?! We could have died! How can you be so calm about this? W-Why didn't you pull out your gun?! Why didn't you shoot it?!"

"I panicked." Garnet gritted her teeth and said sadly,

"I-I don't understand..." The dancer looked to the floor, if sight could drill a hole then she would have had a crater at her feet.

"Pearl-" Lapis tried to walk up to her but Pearl was having none of it and backed away,

"What… What happened when I passed out?" Pearl's voice brittle and her hands clasped around her protectively, an attempt to stop shaking, or just to feel safe. Pearl felt like she could cry. She wanted to cry.

Lapis and Garnet looked at each other for a moment, Garnet nodded and Lapis frowned.

"I killed it." Lapis huffed defensively and it earned her a look from Garnet.

"Lapis-" Garnet began,

"You tell her then!" She hissed back and looked away. It was the first time Pearl had seen her scowl this much and frown angrily.

Garnet hummed, knowingly like always, "Lapis has a 'gift'-" Lapis snorted sarcastically but Garnet persevered, "she saved us back there Pearl."

"Saved?" Pearl shuddered, "How? That… That monstrous creation… It tried to-!" Her legs finally gave out and she fell onto her knees and clasped her hands around her head, tears falling down her cheeks.

"Pearl!" She heard Lapis gasp and felt her skid to a stop beside her. Pearl sniffed and her head fell onto the girl's shoulder as she felt arms wrap around her. "I know it was terrifying… We were all scared, even if some of us don't show it…" Lapis petted her gently and rubbed a small circle where her fingers rested on her lower back. "But we're all here, nothing will get us now, okay?"

Pearl nodded slowly and they parted. Lapis smiled softly and brushed her hand across her cheek, softly enough that Pearl could barely feel it. The only thing she felt was her cool tears moving.

She watched as her tears floated away and form a small goldfish. Pearl was numb for a moment, and looked at Lapis who was blushing lightly.

In her numb mind, the only thing she could say was "beautiful."

Lapis's face went red and soon Pearl developed a blush once she came to her senses.

"What's going on here?" Pearl jumped and seen Amethyst coming closer to inspect the flying fish, or the previous flying fish as it came apart as soon as she made her presence known.

Despite everything and the utter wreck she currently was, Pearl noted that Amethyst looked pleased with herself. She did not want to think of why and watched as Garnet was dragged away by an urgent phone call 'She's always on duty' Pearl sighed. Amethyst huffed and watched the police officer for a moment.

"Pearl, Lapis," the short girl began, "listen, we don't want to leave you alone in this house. But-"

"I understand," Pearl cut her off, "Garnet has her work and you're finishing college."

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't be," Pearl offered her a small smile, "the basement has been sealed right? It shouldn't give us too many problems and even if it did I can call you at any time."

"You also have me," Lapis looked to the tall girl with a slight blush, "and we can always go and interrogate Peridot again."

"Hey!" Amethyst frowned, "no you won't!"

"Alright, alright," Lapis gestured for her to calm down, "we can always **visit** Peridot."

"That sounds better." Amethyst hummed.

Finally they Left Pearl with promises of visits and awkwardly standing with Lapis.

"You'll have all the attention you want today!" Amethyst laughed. Pearl blushed, remembering the fake relationship with Lapis that everyone still (apparently) believed.

'what am I going to do now?''


	16. Chapter 16 - Beach City

Chapter 16 - Beach City

Pearl stared out to the sea in thought, it was a bright day and the rain wasn't going to come until evening… With a huff she made up her mind.

"Lapis," she found the girl sitting on the couch reading one of Pearl's old books, an encyclopaedia to be more precise, Lapis lifted her head and looked expectantly at Pearl "would you like to go for a walk near the beach?"

Pearl could see the light shine from behind Lapis's eyes, she never had to be told twice as she put her book down and quickly followed Pearl to the door.

They began walking along the beach, the waves slightly brushed Lapis's bare legs as the wind ruffled her dress ever so slightly.

"It's so beautiful…" Lapis looked round with a smile. Pearl wanted her to smile more and show her more things in the future.

With a careful eye, Pearl spotted an intact shell lying in the sand. She stopped for a moment and  
picked it up, Lapis walked a few more paces before realising Pearl had stopped.

"Pearl?" She asked quizzically,

"Here." Pearl handed her the shell, now a pretty blue and white with the sand wiped away, "I think you will like this."

"Wow…" Lapis looked closer at the delicate curve and flawless twists, "thanks." She smiles again and looks at it longer.

Pearl wasn't sure how long she was walking with Lapis. Most of the time she kept her out the water as she wanted to swim desperately.

"Garnet said she worked as a police officer," Lapis hummed,

"Yes?" Pearl looked at her with a confused frown,

"Well, I know that humans have jobs. To get money." She clarified, "I'm curious as to what you work as."

Pearl stared out to the sea. 'What do I tell her?' she frowned slightly, she couldn't say that she worked with the police, that was the very first thing that she was told not to do. It was all very interesting at the time but now when it matters she has to keep silent, so she turned back to Lapis and replied sadly "I used to be a dancer and I fenced."

"You danced?" Lapis smiled slightly,

"Oh, um, yes?" Pearl flustered,

"Then we must dance together some time,"

Ignoring the obvious question of how Lapis even knows how to dance, Pearl replied, "Yes… I would like that." and smiled back, she felt Lapis's hand creep into hers again.  
It was nothing fancy. They held hands like children would hold each others hands. A strange idea of wanting to 'make it better' passed her, but she looked at Lapis who was preoccupied in marvelling at the sea.

'this is enough' she thought.

"Woah! look at that!" Lapis pointed to the lighthouse onto of the cliff, finally noticing it. She held Pearl's hand even tighter.

'This is enough.'

Walking into Beach City was a problem. Pearl panicked slightly at Lapis's curiosity in the lifestyles of others, it was rather cute that she wanted to know more about the things around her. The problem stemmed from Lapis coming from no-where, it was expected that people would ask about her and where she came from. But what would Lapis's reply?  
Pearl anxiously held Lapis's hand as they approached the boardwalk, squeezing it tighter as they got closer.

"Pearl, you're squeezing a little too much," Lapis laughed a little, Pearl paid no attention and looked ahead in worry, her hand getting tighter and a death grip set in.

"Pearl my hand's turning blue!" Lapis laughed and Pearl jumped,

"I-I'm sorry," She sighed, releasing her hold of Lapis's hand entirely,

"It's fine, we can do this later if you want."

'Definitely not,' Pearl huffed in thought, "let's keep going, you'll enjoy it."

"Well… Okay…" Pearl knew Lapis never believed her.

They started walking down the boardwalk and looking at the different stalls, Pearl found them slightly weathered due to living on a beach but the colours where still bright and attracting. They passed (who Pearl assumed by the stalls name) Mr Fryman who was struggling with what appeared to be a battered cardboard box, Pearl could tell that Lapis was adamant to do something as she looked at her with a spark in her eyes. Pearl sighed and walked over to the stall.

"Mr Fryman?" she called over, the man jumped and almost dropped the corner of a heavy looking cardboard box,

"Oh! you're Pearl!" He smiled despite having a red face, 'word spreads quickly around here' Pearl thought "how can I help you?"

"More like how can we help you," Lapis muttered under her breath, Pearl gave her a little frown.

"What was that?" he huffed in exhaustion, clearly he never heard her or was acting like it.

"How can we help?" Pearl asked across the counter, slowly trying to piece together what could be so heavy inside a cardboard box in a fry shop,

Fryman was desperately trying to pick the box up but slipped from his grasp and it landed with a heavy thud, followed by Fryman.

"Are you okay?" Pearl asked, he groaned in reply "hold on, we're coming to help."

They entered the doorway at the side, the smell of cooked fries was much more prominent and despite all the grease stains on the wall adjacent to the cookers it was a rather well maintained store. She quickly walked over to Fryman who was rubbing his back and patting away dirt from his clothes.

"You don't need to-"

"It's fine." Pearl smiled and took one end of the box, Lapis took the other and in a huff they picked it up, barely. Pearl could understand now why he was having such a hard time, it was extremely difficult to move and the feeling of the box ripping from the weight was definitely a factor, but thankfully they made it onto the shelf and dropped the box there. Rubbing their hands they look back to a thankful Fryman,

"Are you okay?" Lapis asked a little worryingly, Pearl caught on when she noticed the man's strange body language,

"You two are definitely stronger than you look!" He laughed a little with a bit of a blush, 'oh dear, I think we embarrassed him,' Pearl smiled in response,

"What's in here?" Lapis glanced back to the box, sitting peacefully in it's new home,

"It's a load of potatoes, we usually get them in bags but three of them burst so we put them into an old box…" He shifted his visor slightly, "Won't be doing that again."

Pearl and Lapis where escorted out and they passed a young boy who ran into the storeroom.

"Careful Ronaldo!" Fryman called out to him and the boy nodded enthusiastically in response. He looked back to Pearl and Lapis, "sorry, kids are a pain at that age…"

"He's your son right?" Pearl smiled politely once he nodded, "he looks a lot like you."

Fryman smiled at the compliment and looked surprised once he seen Lapis "Sorry, we haven't met. People here call me Fryman."

"I'm Lapis Lazuli," she introduced herself with a small smile,

"I guess you're visiting Pearl," he said, "I hope you enjoy your time in Beach City!"  
Lapis nodded with a smile in response.

Pearl jumped slightly when she heard a baby crying from one of the back rooms, her mind wandered to the baby boy she refused to meet and the regret of missing him grow. Thankfully Fryman apologised as he ran to the next room, giving Pearl some time to regain her composure. When he came back with a baby in his hands, Pearl sadly looked on, she was never good with children. Fryman once again thanked them and offered them a discount the next time they get something. Pearl had a feeling she wouldn't return to the shop any time soon and was glad to get out.

She let out a shaky sigh, 'So far, so good,' Pearl walked further down the boardwalk with Lapis tailing behind her. She met the Pizza's briefly and navigated around the same three kids that asked question after question. Lapis enjoyed the playfulness and entertained them with questions of her own. The tall fencer was definitely not good with young kids.  
Pearl soon subconsciously found herself walking further towards the forests beside the town with Lapis. It was fine, very quiet and serene, she could have stayed there all day, until they spotted a very recognisable figure.

"Is that Peridot?" Lapis narrowed her eyes as they got closer the green hoodie in the distance,

"It is…" Pearl groaned.

They approached her cautiously and watched what she was doing. As anyone would do if they seen a hunched over figure that was 'studying' something on the forest floor ominously, and with her being a mad scientist that created a monster, it was perfectly reasonable to keep away from her. Unless Pearl and Lapis wanted to become part of another one of her experiments.

"I guess Amethyst already left," Pearl cleared her throat and purposefully stepped on a twig, it was rather amusing to see the 'mad scientist' jump up into the air in fright.

"Oh, Pearl, Lazuli," she acknowledged and stood up. Pearl frowned, she was covered in dirt. "What brings you out here? Haven't you got an injury to take care of?" There was some spite in her voice, but Pearl understood her mood, she wasn't exactly civil with her. But there was no way she would apologise to a murderer.

"More like what brings you out here." Pearl folded her arms, "and my injury is fine thanks."

"What are you doing?" Lapis followed up quickly, Pearl had noticed a small pile of dirt beside Peridot, clearly she was burying something. 'Perhaps incriminating evidence?' she frowned.

"Nothing." Peridot folded her arms,

'Oh, this will definitely be fun,' Pearl grumbled under her breath.

Thankfully, the loud rustlings of bushes managed to tear Pearls attention away from the irritating girl in the green hoodie. With a quick turn, they discovered Amethyst walking casually over to them.

"Yo!" She said,

"Oh." Pearl replies, "I guessed that it would be you to stay behind."

"Chill! I'm only doing a favour." Amethyst put her hands up in a dismissive manner, "ain't that right Peri?"

Pearl heard the girl in question squeak out a yes.

"Anyway, I was planning on leaving later," Amethyst added, Pearl seen smirk starting to form and she knew in that moment that her day just turned into a nightmare


	17. Chapter 17 - An Unfortunate Visit

Chapter 17 - An Unfortunate Visit

Pearl sat on the couch with a dark expression. She did not want to be here.

The house was dusty, grimy and there where wires and parts of machinery strewn about everywhere. Pearl cringed at everything and uncomfortably fidgeted in her seat, the only security she gave herself was that the couch was at least moderately clean.

Lapis was sitting beside her, a respectful distance away but she was leaning towards Pearl and watching Peridot cautiously. The girl in question was also keeping an eye on them whilst holding a rather 'chilled out' Amethyst's hand for support.

"This was a bad idea." Pearl stood up after suffering the torment of the awkward silence for a little longer. She tried walking to the door but Amethyst caught her hand.

"Sit back down Pearl," she grinned, "we need to get this sorted."

"What is there to sort?" Pearl scoffed and waved her hand away, "clearly we're unwanted."

"You're not unwanted Pearl," Amethyst sighs, "Peridot wanted to tell you something." Pearl turned to the other girl, who squeaked at the attention, Peridot blushed and looked away.

"I- I wanted to apologise." She said, Pearl could feel her gaze soften, "I never took in account how… unnerving it was to witness… that… and you even got hurt protecting Lapis and well… I just wanted to say that I'm sorry... For everything…" Peridot rubbed her arm, "I started this whole thing by sending you that phone call, and by going into your house from the basement." Her eyes then rested onto Lapis, "I'm sorry I couldn't release you sooner Lapis, and for pushing you down into the basement when I was making my escape."

"Wait, you pushed me into the basement?" Lapis frowned, Pearl folded her arms when she remembered that drama,

"It was an accident!" Peridot quickly added in slight panic, "you where right in front of the counter! it's obvious that when I snuck out I bumped into you!"

"Why where you even there?" Lapis asked,

Peridot developed a shifty look and Pearl raised an eyebrow,

"I was hiding?" Pearl cringed at how suspicious Peridot sounded.

"Yeah, we know." Amethyst nudged her,

Peridot sighed in defeat, "I was checking up on Lapis and I was trying to seal the basement… But I was almost spotted by Amethyst so I hid and I couldn't move for the night."

Amethyst burst out laughing and Lapis snickered, Pearl herself couldn't hold back a smirk. "You spent the entire night there?! couldn't you just wait till I fell asleep?" Amethyst wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I fell asleep…" Peridot blushed and Amethyst laughed again.

Pearl's attention was pulled away and she glanced out the window when she though she heard a tapping, unfortunately she found that the weather had turned on her and it began to rain.

'Oh this is just perfect,' she sighed,

"Looks like you're stuck here P." Amethyst grinned,

Knowing when she was defeated, Pearl sat back down onto the couch. She stopped listening to the conversation as soon as Amethyst started to talk about 'everyday things', she focused her attention back to the surroundings. It was a mess. But the longer she continued to stare the more she realised that it was getting more organised in her mind. The metallic strange objects where in their own corner, rather messily but it was something. Wires were in their own pile similarly to the collection of cassette players, Pearl could just barely see a wooden box of some sort tucked away into the pile containing a worn-down easel and paint cans.  
It was only when Amethyst stuck her grubby hand in front of her face did she realise that they where talking to her.

"What is it?" Pearl tried to ask nicely,

"I was under the impression that you and lazuli where close." Peridot grumbled,

"What makes you say that?" Pearl sighs, there was still some tension between them. Yet another person she's pushing away.

"You are rather protective of her, despite being... well!... you know!" Peridot huffed with irritation

"I was only as protective as I needed to be," Pearl frowned, "now that she doesn't need me, I'm not needed."

"You two having a disagreement?" Amethyst indicated the respectful distance between the two.

They sighed tiredly, "Amethyst, there was nothing between us." Pearl leaned back on the couch, "we never 'went out' and we never got that close. What I said before was a lie." She glanced at Lapis who nodded slowly in agreement.

"I know Pearl," Amethyst grinned, "but seriously, agreeing to pretend to be GF's? That definitely isn't like you." Pearl frowned sadly at that and looked back to the window again. She tried to think what was so different about her, would she have lied in the past? She was never a good liar, perhaps Lapis is to blame for her sudden skill. 'She really is a bad influence.'

Pearl resumed looking at the heavy rain, once again drowning out the others' meaningless conversations. She didn't want to know how Peridot's day was, or reply on what she and Lapis had done a few hours ago. Slowly she started to frown again, Amethyst's question was plaguing her mind and she started to wish the storm clouds away before it got too dark. However the rain only got heavier and the wind stronger.

"The clouds aren't going to go away if you glare at them," Amethyst said, recapturing her attention once again.

"Although if you keep staring at them they might get self-conscious eventually." She heard Lapis sigh, turning back she had found the shorter girl reading some sort of trashy show magazine. She heard Amethyst snort at the dry humour.

Pearl looked to the others with a raised eyebrow. She must have blanked out again and missed an entire conversation, not that she was complaining. Peridot had resumed to fidgeting with her phone, giving Pearl subtle side-glances that the dancer did in fact see. Pearl sighed when she realised that it was better to 'forgive and forget,'. 'I mean, Peridot? a creepy scientist? sure. But a murderer? unlikely.'

"Peridot," Pearl began and gained everyones attention, "I would like to apologise for my hostile behaviour. I was under stress and I thought you where a threat." 'May have sounded a little robotic, but oh well.'

She watched the shorter girl softly smile, "it's fine. I understand."

"In my opinion, you're both nerds." Amethyst leaned back on the couch again and put away her phone,

"A nerd? Oh please…" Pearl scoffed, but deviously grinned "at least I'm the cooler one."

"W-what?!" Peridot gasped, "I can be 'cool' too!" She turned to the silent Lapis for support, "Lazuli, you've been silent for a while. Who's cooler?"

Lapis looked between them slowly. In truth, Pearl never wanted any attention, she just wanted to get rid of the tension that constantly plagued them with a gentle tease. She really wanted Lapis to choose the green hoodie girl, if that would make her happy then so be it.

"Sorry, you're both cool," Lapis smiled sincerely,

"Objection!" Amethyst called out, "I disagree, you're thinking about someone~" She slyly grinned and Lapis blushed slightly,

"N-no I'm not…" Lapis cleared her throat,

"Lapis, I understand you are trying to protect out feelings." Peridot added rather seriously, "But I'd rather you say the truth."

Lapis sighed in with defeat, "Pearl." She stated with a light blush.

She could see the cheshire grin Amethyst had, despite not even looking at her, Pearl knew that she was creeping closer.  
"Soooo~ Nothing going on between you?" She laughed,

"N-no it's no like that! It's just-" Lapis hesitated, "well… She did save me… and got stabbed twice with a scalpel… and took care of me when I needed it…" Pearl watched as the girl tensed up slightly, refusing to make eye contact.

"Uh huh yeah," Amethyst replied in her classic irritating way, "Wait, twice? I thought it was only once."

"I got hurt when we where hiding from Peridot." Pearl traced the bandage on her arm lightly,

"It was imbedded into your arm!" Lapis burst out, "and- and you just pulled it out like it was nothing!" That was not how Pearl remembered the event, if anything it did not sound as simple as 'pulling out the knife'.

"That's not-"

"It is!" Lapis interrupted her, "Don't deny how idiotically, foolishly, stupendously awesome and scary it was!" She blushed shortly after and looked away with a victorious huff, "I rest my case."

After a moment of silence yet again, they all chuckled a little. Even Pearl laughed a little, that felt like she never laughed so genuinely in a long time.


	18. Chapter 18 - Peridot

Chapter 18 - Peridot

The weather seemed to come down heavier by the minute. The windows where rattling from the strength of the wind and the roof was thundering by the heavy down-pour. Pearl wondered if the house could even withstand such torment, it was a shack in comparison to the others she had been in recently.  
With a sigh Pearl returned back to the conversation, Peridot and Amethyst had spent the last half-hour discussing the unpredictable life by a beach, it is strange that a storm seemed to roll in from no-where but with summer ending soon there was bound to be some surprises. Whereas Lapis continued reading that same magazine, rather interested in whatever it was about.

"Weather is annoying, it is my least favourite thing and my most favourite thing about the world up here." Peridot tapped on her phone rather loudly and shifted in her seat.

"What do you mean?" Amethyst asked,

"Well, I only moved to this 'house' recently. I was working deep underground most of the time as it was what I was made to do," She explained, "however, I am still not used to the world here, it's a strange place."

Pearl wondered on why this strange girl was even up here, 'If she was made to do something, why isn't she doing it?' the dancer frowned in confusion, but jumped when Peridot pointed at her suddenly,

"I know what you are thinking, 'Why am I up here?' right?" Pearl begrudgingly nodded, "well, let's just say that I don't want to return underground any time soon…" and the frown set in again,

"Why?" she asked,

"An extended break?" Peridot lied again and Pearl looked at her dubiously, but when Peridot glanced at Amethyst instinctively Pearl grinned a little,

"Oh."

"'Oh' what?" She blushed in embarrassment, Pearl looked at Amethyst who was chuckling at the display then back to Peridot,

"Nothing," Pearl replied with a smile, she pulled out her phone momentarily and checked the time. It was already nine o'clock and they had spent nearly the entire day cooped up in Peridot's home, sheltering from the rain. There was no chance that they where going anywhere tonight.

She heard Peridot grumble after Amethyst had apparently whispered something to her, the small technician crossed her arms and stood up.  
"You can stay till morning. Just don't touch my stuff." She said as she began walking towards a stairway that was tucked away in the corner, after hearing some grumblings and a few unexplainable thumps, Peridot returned with some pillows and blankets. Throwing them at Pearl and Lapis after almost tripping up three times.

"You don't have to throw it," Pearl scolded when she put the blankets to the side, Peridot glared at her in the way she always does but nothing more was said on the subject.

Despite doing absolutely nothing other than talk for three hours, Pearl found herself softly yawning. With everything that has happened recently, she couldn't care less at the dusty conditions of the house. Lapis had already carefully placed the magazine back where she got it, as to not trigger Peridot into ranting about treating her things with respect, and was currently dozing off beside Pearl.  
Saying their goodnights, Amethyst and Peridot left them and walked up the stairs.

"I can't believe that I thought she was some sort of murderous scientist." Pearl puts a pillow and blanket onto the couch across from Lapis, who was doing the exact same,

"I think she cares," Lapis replied, "if she didn't I wouldn't be here."

"Not exactly," Pearl sighed, "I would have went into the basement no matter what, the phone call at the time just scared me."

"Well, she tried." Pearl heard a swish of fabric behind her,

"I guess so." Pearl looked back to find Lapis removing her dress, "w-what are you doing?" Pearl looked back ahead with a blush,

"I'm removing the skirt, it's getting in the way." Lapis continues, "I wouldn't be bothered by this though, you did see way more when you rescued me."

"I-it was dark, I never seen anything." Pearl crumpled the blanket in her hands, she heard Lapis sigh with what she could guess was relief.

"That's good."

As Lapis was getting ready, Pearl looked back towards the pile of machinery in the corner, her curiosity peaked at that moment and she approached it. Finding random bolts, joints, nails, metal sheets and a monitor. She grinned when she found a computer attached to said monitor.

"What are you doing?" She heard Lapis, her voice filled with concern.

"I'm going to find out more about her," She replied bluntly.

The computer was an easy fix, she never understood why Peridot, self-proclaimed expert in technology, never fixed it till now. Wiring the computer back into operation, Pearl plugged it in and powered everything on. She was thankful that it wasn't as loud as she thought it would be.

"How do you know what to do?" Lapis looked at the monitor from behind her.

"I just do." Pearl continued to watch the documents load, it was slow enough for her to remember the gruelling self-teaching she put herself through. Not that she disliked learning, it's just that it was very tedious. She grinned when everything was loaded, opening the first document she discovered several operating details. She never knew what for, but whatever it was, the name 'fusion' stood out.

"Isn't this against the law?" Lapis mumbled, "Garnet told me some of them, this is a breach of privacy-"

"-let's just say that she'll forgive me." Pearl clicked the mouse and kept reading,

"But, what if she won't? I don't want you punished Pearl." Lapis persisted,

Understanding her time constraint and that Peridot might discover them at any moment, Pearl had to find anything to copy the evidence onto so that she could read it in her free time. Ignoring Lapis, Pearl walked away from the monitor and began carefully looking for an unused USB or DVD, she grumbled 'even a crappy CD will do'. She heard some clicking behind her, 'right, I taught her how to use a computer.' Pearl turned to find Lapis reading a document quietly. Sighing in relief that she wasn't shutting everything down and that she was presentable. Pearl returned to her search and soon found a DVD under an end-table.

She returned and quickly loaded the disk in, opening it she found that it was completely unused. She grinned at the possibility that Peridot never knew how to work it on the old computer. However, unlike new tech and gadgets, Pearl had to wait till all the documents transferred. She glared at the computer, 'estimated waiting time, 10 minutes' was written in the window. 'Yeah right,' She scoffed.

Pearl turned to look at Lapis, who had sat down at her couch again. The dancer panicked when she seen how pale she was. Creeping carefully over, she sat beside her and realised her shivering.  
"Lapis, are you okay?" She asked and was met by a quiet shake of the head, "what was it you read?"

"Fusions," She began to violently shake and her voice wavered, "They where people, clones sure. But they all had been grown just so they could be part of a sick experiment." She hid her face with her hands and began to cry, "T-they never experienced life! and I- and I-"

"Lapis calm down," Pearl put a hand onto her shoulder and the other on her arm, "you never done anything wrong-"

"I killed it Pearl!" She sobbed, "T-that fusion, it had consciousness! it knew what was happening despite not being able to see! T-They could have lived!"

"No, they couldn't live Lapis." Pearl pried her hand away from her face and wiped away some tears, "they where suffering Lapis, as sad as it is, you saved them."

"But-"

"There is no 'but', the fusion wanted to kill you."

"No! It was lost! confused!" Lapis brushed Pearl's hands away, "they where protecting themselves, they thought that we where going to hurt them more!"

"Lapis…" Pearl hugged her, she never even knew if it was the right thing to do, but she slowly began feeling Lapis calming down despite her shivering.

A familiar 'beep' of completion was heard from the computer. Pearl let Lapis go and draped the blanket over her shoulders, she was still shivering.  
Walking to the monitor, she pulled out the filled disk and turned everything off. For extra security, Pearl dismantled the computer back to what it was like before. Sitting back down at the couch, Pearl put the DVD back into it's pouch and sat it under the table. Lapis was still shivering uncontrollably across from her, at first Pearl never knew what to do. She took off her jeans and placed them neatly over the armrest and sat back down, Lapis was lying on her side, bundled up and still shivered uncontrollably.  
'This situation is out of control.' Pearl sighed and finally decided to do something. Remembering back when she was in Lapis's position, she tried to think of what she wanted.

And that was 'comfort'.

She stood up and walked over to the shivering girl, at first she gently petted her hair and rubbed her arms.  
"Lapis…" She began, "would you like to sleep with me for the night?" 'That sounded way too suspicious, do over! Do over!' "I mean... On the couch... With me... umm..." She awkwardly stopped.

She wasn't sure if she seen a nod, but carefully Pearl picked her up and sat down with Lapis on the couch. They lay down and the dancer covered them with a blanket, Lapis was still shivering but cuddled into the taller girl, almost clinging to her. Pearl hugged her back with a blush and kept her close, slowly rubbing small circles her back. It was so strange, being so close to someone so different to **'her'** and yet so similar. When Lapis finally calmed down and fell asleep, Pearl soon followed. She never noticed before how Lapis smelt, so faintly, of the sea.


	19. Chapter 19 - The Basement

Chapter 19 - The Basement

The morning wasn't as great as Pearl hoped it would be. She still had that bizarre nightmare and momentarily forgot about where she was and who she was with. Lapis was still in her arms sleeping peacefully, but across from them sat someone with a cheshire grin that she did not want to talk to.

"So~" Amethyst began, "nothing is between you two…"

Pearl grumbled, but had no intentions of waking Lapis just yet. "How long where you sitting there?"

"Long enough to snap a pic."

"Ugh… Listen, Lapis just had a really bad night, okay? Please don't stress her out." Pearl sighed and gently sat up, trying her very hardest not to wake Lapis. She looked back to Amethyst that dropped her smile and looked away. That was concerning.  
"What is it?" She asked her.

"Did it have anything to do with… Y'know… What happened?"

Pearl looked down and noticed that her shirt was pulled slightly too far to the right, revealing some of the bandage that covered her cut. She sighed and nodded. Amethyst kept quiet for a moment but looked back at Pearl with concern.

"So how is it?" She asked,

"It's… Okay…" Pearl moved her shoulder slightly, it still ached. "I'm trying not to move my shoulder a lot." She looked round, noticing how strange that there was no Peridot nearby.  
"Where's Peridot?"

"Peri? Oh she's still upstairs, she'll be down soon though." Amethyst replied,

"She's still upstairs? taking her time isn't she?" Pearl sighed and finally stood up to put her jeans on. She began folding the blanket and sat them to the side on the couch Amethyst was sitting on.

"You still haven't changed," Amethyst said and smiled genuinely,

"How so?" Pearl asked as she placed the pillow onto the folded blanket,

"You're still so active in the morning."

Pearl never responded to that, instead she sat down beside Lapis again and gently began waking her up. She was thankful that Lapis never had any problems waking up like some people she knew, she glanced at Amethyst.  
"Do you feel any better?" Pearl asked her,

"Much, thank you," Lapis replied, "I know that there was nothing that could be done… It's just…"

"It's fine to feel like that, it's still so shocking that we even encountered it."

Lapis nodded in response, she paid no attention to Amethyst and quickly put her skirt back on. Pearl looked at her in slight concern, Lapis was rather social most of the time and outright ignoring someone wasn't like her. Thinking back to what Lapis read on the computer made Pearl remember about the disk that she hid and as she began folding the other blanket, she quickly picked the said disk up from under the table and hid it under her shirt carefully. Amethyst was oblivious. When the familiar sound of Peridot came tumbling down the stairs, Pearl and Lapis where ready to leave.

The weather was sunny like usual and there was no evidence of any storm from the night before. Pearl wasn't going to chance it, the last time it was a nice day in the morning there was a storm in the afternoon. She paced a little anxiously by the door, waiting for Lapis and Peridot to finish their private conversation.

"What's up with you?" Amethyst asked her,

"Nothing," Pearl replied, "when are you leaving back to the city?"

"When I feel like it."

"You're staying because of Peridot, aren't you?" Pearl sighed,

Amethyst huffed in reply, "If I leave her, she'll have to go down there again!"

"She managed it before and I don't think she needs baby-sitting."

"Yeah, but things change! She told me herself, she needs someone here so that it gives her an excuse not to go back." Amethyst folded her arms,

Pearl was about to rant about how stupid that was but she was held back as Lapis had strolled over with Peridot,  
"Done?" Pearl asked her, she nodded in response, "then lets go back-"

"-wait." Lapis reached out before Pearl opened the door, "we have to tell you something first."

The tall girl frowned a little in confusion, "what?"

"Peridot told me that she has a spare room here and that I can stay with her," Lapis said, "I feel that it's more appropriate and we're both in a similar situation."

Pearl went numb for a moment, she also believed that it was a good idea and that Peridot can be trusted, but she never liked it. Pearl dismissed the feeling. She'll get used to it soon.  
"I don't mind, would you like me to drop by later on today with some of your things?"

"If you don't mind." Lapis nervously wrung her hands,

"Not at all, I guess I'll see everyone later-"

"Pearl we need a word." Amethyst suddenly grabbed her arm and led her outside and out of earshot from the others, Pearl yanked her arm away,

"What is it?" the huffed,

"Are you sure?"

"About?"

"Lapis!" Amethyst waved her ands towards the door in emphasis, "are you just going to give her up like that?"

"I don't understand, it'll make her more independent and-" She paused, "wait, there is nothing between us!"

"I beg to differ!" Amethyst continued, " I seen what you're like around her! You've literally been happier then you ever were since Rose!" Pearl cringed at that and shut her eyes, '-and when she told you that she wants to stay here I know how you must have felt!"

"You don't! And I don't know what you're talking about." Pearl pushed by her and walked away from the house, "just hurry up and leave, Lapis will keep Peridot company-" Then it dawned on Pearl why Amethyst was so adamant to keep Lapis with her, "you don't want to leave, don't you? You're just using Peridot as an excuse! And now that Lapis is here, you can go back!"

"What? No!-"

"Save it." Pearl frowned, "Just leave. Garnet needs you more than anyone here and you need to finish college."

She then walked away, leaving Amethyst standing in shock beside the front door. Pearl didn't care about anything anymore, she kept a quick pace and only briefly acknowledged the familiar faces she met on the boardwalk. When Pearl finally unlocked the front door to her home, she sighed in irritation.  
'Of course, it's always like this with her.' She lay down onto the couch, her hand softly massaging her temples as she tried to calm down.

It seemed to be working and Pearl thought about what she would do now, then she remembered the DVD. She went to her laptop and carefully set the disk into it, it opened quickly and she began reading the different files.  
There was a section that spoke about water damage yet again and that the 'higher ups' sent some Peridots to investigate and fix the issue but none returned. 'I guess Lapis is the reason for that. But why would the Peridot's go missing?'  
Apparently the experiment was so important that they couldn't lose the 'section' as they did with all the others that they had boarded up. 'So it isn't talking about Lapis's section...' She brought her hand back to her temples, 'This is confusing...'

Searching more about the Peridot's proved to be fruitless, Pearl couldn't find anything at all to do with them. 'Perhaps Peridot will know what happened to her co-workers... That is if she isn't one of the missing Peridots.'

Pearl moved along and found more maintenance notes, yet again they suffered water damage and electrical disturbances. Moving along to more recent notes, she discovered plans for an experimental fusion between clones to see if they could make a clone with unique abilities. Pearl paled at the results, the selected clones where still conscious and were in torment, fighting for control.  
The experiments they were put through were basic and rather humane at first. But with a surplus of new clones, they started to get more and more brutal, testing extreme conditions, trauma and stress. Pearl shuddered when she discovered that the fusions would sometimes cry out and she had to stop reading when some experiments depicted graphic descriptions of their deaths.

Pearl was about to continue reading the other files when she suddenly heard a loud thump from the cellar door.

It scared her half to death and she nearly dropped everything she was holding, a few seconds later there was another thump. Slowly the time interval between each thump became faster. Cautiously, Pearl put down her laptop and walked towards the hatch, it thudded again and then started to shake. As if there was something there that was knocking on the hatch.

She never wanted to open it, but then again… 'What do I have left to live for?' Amethyst never cared, Garnet was gone, no-one cared.  
Lapis flashed into her mind briefly, remembering the time when she listened to her and kept her calm- 'no.' Pearl slapped herself, 'If she cared she wouldn't have left.'

Taking the metal key from her pocket, Pearl kneeled down and unlocked the hatch. The thumping and shaking had ceased.

Whatever was there knew she had unlocked the panel. Whatever was there was waiting for her.

Opening the door slowly, Pearl grabbed her phone and used it as a light. There was no way she was leaving an unlocked door with a monster just to go get a torch from upstairs.

The basement was pitch black, the lights that Garnet had set up must have worn out, 'or were broken.' Slowly Pearl entered the basement and looked around, it was empty like always. But the feeling of being watched never escaped her.  
With a huff, Pearl flicked on the light-switch and she could see again, the lights where working just fine. 'As I am a paranoid idiot, it's obvious that I turned off the light!' She groaned and turned on her heels, heading back to the opening.

The stairs creaked and groaned with every step and just when Pearl was high enough to feel a draft of sea air...

The door slammed shut and the lights went out.

* * *

EDIT: Hello! I've forgotten to add this note because I'm still learning how to post on this site and I'm used to the AO3 way of posting.  
Anyway, back on topic. There IS a fully completed sequel to this story! Just go onto my profile and you'll find my other stuff there... Including the sequel.

Okay, so thanks for reading! and I hope you enjoy the sequel!


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